Deadly Games
by TorAndJulSopWilJam
Summary: I used to be an over-worked, half-starved orphan living in an industrial district. And you know what? I was perfectly fine with that. I was perfectly fine having a crazy sister, one friend, and just enough to scrape by because that was my life. Key word now being 'was.' I was perfectly fine with my life. But then I had to go and be heroic...
1. Sister

**Author's Note:**

Alright, this is the first chapter in a story that I'm working on, though I promise it's very nearly done and I have everything planned out.

Quick disclaimer, the Reaping situation is similar to the one in the actual _The Hunger Games_, but if I didn't do it like that it would screw up the plot that my stubborn little mind worked out. Anyway, just try to enjoy the story and not nit-pick, which I'm sure is hard for some of you, because I know it's pretty hard for me.

Anyway, thanks for taking an interest, here's the first chapter:

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

**Sister**

* * *

I try to keep my hands steady as I hold the three locks of red in my hands. Right over, left over, right over, left- crap. I unweave the braid and start over. Right over, left over, right over, left over, right over- dammit.

I give up on Rosemary's braid. It is just not going to happen. For the life of me, I cannot do the hair thing.

"It's not happening, Rosie." I sigh.

"It didn't happen last year, either." says Rosemary, smiling serenely.

I pat her on the shoulder and tie her hair in a high ponytail. She has long, wavy, bright red locks that would probably look good no matter how horribly I messed with them.

Today is our birthday. We're twins. We look nothing alike, though. We're both small and skinny and pale, but Rosemary has her red hair and bright blue eyes and a smiling, round face, whereas I have an almost textbook perfect face, with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. Moreover, I do not like smiling. Ever.

We're both thirteen today.

We live on our own, for almost a year now. Mom and Dad didn't live to see our first month of life. We were raised in the community home, and I've been working at one of the factories since I was eight. We were able to leave altogether last year, when we turned twelve and were eligible to sign up for tesserae.

Though I won't let Rosemary take any. This year, she has one entry. I have eight. Technically, Rosemary should have two entries, but since our birthday is on the day of the Reaping, there's a kind of null. We weren't in last year, because there wasn't enough time to register us. So this is our first Reaping. And at our last, we'll be nineteen instead of eighteen.

The tesserae are extra entries for a 'year's supply' of grain and oil. I took out two for each of us, and three to sell. I mostly sell the oil, because the grain is even worse than the stuff that comes on the ration train.

That, along with the money I make from a four-hour shift at the Peacekeeper uniform factory, is enough to keep us afloat outside of the community home. I hope we never set foot there again.

"Are you ready?" I ask Rosemary. She shrugs. Rosemary isn't exactly right in the head. She's usually halfway in and out, sometimes in her own world entirely, and has a few moments of complete lucidity. But those are few and far between. Her right arm is mostly gone, with only few inches of a stump at her shoulder. She was born like that.

Since we're twins, that apparently means that I'm really strong. I don't find that at all encouraging.

Even if Rosemary basically lives in her own world, she can still fairly understand what's going on. I think that she does right now.

She's grasping my hand tightly, breathing fast. She usually gets stressed out on Reaping Day, even though we've never been eligable before.

"You'll be alright." I promise. "You only have one entry."

"You sure?" she breathes.

"Positive." I confirm.

She nods, and grips my hand even more tightly.

When we enter the town square, we follow the line of all the other kids hoping that they're not marching to their deaths today. We head to the roped-off area with the twelve-year-olds and wait for everything to start.

"Are we in it this year?" Rosemary asks me.

"Yes." I reply.

"How many entries do I have?" Rosemary whispers, her voice wavering.

"Just one, Rosie." I breathe.

The District 8 escort, Queenie Minnie (I know, right?) steps onto the stage and sits down between the mayor and one of the victors, Woof Rant. Woof is an elderly man who can barely hear anything. The only other two living victors from our District are Tulle Lories and Cecelia Feld. Tulle is a dark, severe-looking middle-aged woman, and Cecelia is a kind, motherly type somewhere in her twenties. She's married with a baby, and it looks like there's a small bump on her abdomen now.

I've always wondered how Cecelia won her Games. She only won seven years ago, but I was too little to pay attention, and I don't like watching anything on TV except for the stuff that we're required to watch. Well, I don't actually _like_ watching that, I just have to.

The mayor eventually steps up to his podium and begins reading. They're bland, old words about the history of our nation, the wars and numerous disasters that preceded us, how the glistening Capitol rose out of the ashes and whatever other crap the Capitol's strung up. I can never pay much attention. Then the Dark Days, when the thirteen districts rebelled against the Capitol, how the thirteenth was obliterated and the rest defeated, how the Treaty of Treason was designed so there would always be peace, how the Hunger Games is an annual reminder of the rebellion.

It's all stupid Capitol propaganda. They want to seem so kind. We all know the Hunger Games is just them saying "Look, we can take your children and kill them and there's nothing you can do about it." It's a scare tactic. They don't want another uprising.

And the tactic works, too. However much all of us want a rebellion, we're all too afraid to actually rise up.

I've heard low whispers about it in the marketplace, and sometimes in the community home, but everyone is too afraid to ever actually do something.

The Capitol takes one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen from each of the twelve districts to compete. It's a fight to the death in an outdoor arena.

It's what haunts the nightmares of most kids. I'm not an exception. The thoughts chills me to my very core.

When the mayor finishes, he reads the list of past District 8 victors. There are only four, and one is dead. Sixty-seven victors before now, and we only have four.

When the mayor finally finishes, he sits down and Queenie gets up, a big fluffy ball of bright pink.

"Happy Hunger Games!" she squeals excitedly "May the odds be ever in your favor!"

With eight names in the bowl, as first Reapings go, the odds are not in my favor.

I know there are kids with more than me. There's a boy in my grade at school with six younger siblings. His first year, his name was in there ten times, this year it's twenty.

There's a boy, Roane Avi, who I guess I'm kind of friends with. I know that he has at least as many entries as I have.

For whatever reason, I look over to the thirteen-year-olds and catch his eye. He gives an encouraging half-smile. I shoot him a dirty look and look away quickly, but not before I see him smile and roll his eyes.

I'm not good at making friends. I suppose Roane is my only one, but only because he and his brothers have a knack for being too nice. They're all burly black boys, with wavy hair and dark green eyes. Roane's the youngest. Moore is eighteen, Teale is twenty-one, and Fleece is twenty-five.

I guess if I pay attention to his family we really are friends.

Queenie talks about what an honor it is to be here, which to an extent is true. At least for now. She just got promoted from 12 this year, so she'll have this level of appreciation for a year, possibly two if our tributes do well this time around.

In the Capitol, the Games are a fun sporting event. Watch with your friends, cheer on your favorites, place bets, take a vacation to one of the old Arenas.

They're all idiots.

Rosemary grips my hand tighter as Queenie finishes her little speech and says "Let's start with the boys this year!"

She walks over to the glass bowl filled with boys' names. She shuffles her hand around a bit, because getting a hold of a slip of paper with those talons seems to be a bit of a challenge.

Finally, she picks one out and walks back to the little podium.

She looks at the slip of paper, reads the name, then looks back at us. Dramatic pause or whatever.

There's complete silence before Queenie says "Moore Avi!"

I let out the tiniest sound of… what? Remorse? Shock?

I look at the back of Roane's head. The boy beside him is holding his arm.

Moore steps up to the stage, looking a bit startled, but otherwise unfazed.

Queenie mentions something to Moore about his confidence, then says "Now for the girls!"

Rosemary grips my hand- if possible- even more tightly.

There's eight None Denims.

My parents never got a chance to give me a real name. They weren't expecting twins. Born on Reaping Day. And then my eighteen-year-old parents were both Reaped.

Personally, I think it was set up because there aren't very many married teenagers and I'm sure the gamemakers thought it would be a great show for a married couple to be in the Arena.

So officially, my name is None Denim. But it's known that our parents were planning on naming a girl Rosemary. That stuck and they filled it out on Rosemary's form t the community home so they could tell us apart. But I'm just Denim.

Queenie gets a hold of a piece of paper.

Does time usually go this slow? Or is this just a really long dramatic pause?

My stomach is clenching uncomfortably. Rosemary is gripping my hand tightly. My mouth is dry. It's dead silence and-

"Rosemary Denim!"

No.

No.

_No!_

NO!

And Rosemary screams. Really loud.

She lets go of my hand, ducks under the rope, and tries to run away. The Peacekeepers dash after her and grab her. She's screaming and crying and they're dragging her up to the stage.

I go after them.

I don't know why I'm going after them. I know that it's no use and they're going to take Rosie away from me and all they're going to give me a public whipping or something.

But that doesn't matter. Because this is my sister. My poor, little, defenseless sister who can hardly tell real life from dreams.

I jump onto one of the Peacekeepers and slam the palm of my hand into his ear, which I know can easily break his eardrum. I've had experience.

Sure enough, he falls over from the pain, but I jump off him and manage to get in a solid kick at the groin of one of the other Peacekeepers holding Rosemary before a bunch more come and start dragging me away.

Rosemary is crying and screaming and thrashing as much as she can, but it's really no match.

I'm screaming, too, though I'm not really crying. I'm more yelling expletives as loudly as I can and trying to get in a good punch or kick or clawing.

The Peacekeepers are dragging me away from the crowd, probably trying to get me out of the square entirely. While this makes for great television, they really don't want me screwing up their Reaping.

I distinctly hear Queenie say "Any volunteers?"

And in a stroke of absolute madness, I respond. "I VOLUNTEER!"

I scream as loudly as I can _"I VOLUNTEER! I VOLUNTEER! I VOLUNTEER!"_

The Peacekeepers drop me and I run to the stage.

_"I volunteer!"_ I gasp when I reach the podium.

"No, you can't!" sobs Rosemary, trying to push me off the stage. It's not much use considering she only has one arm.

"I just did!" I roar. I'm angry now. Not angry at her, but she probably sees it that way. With a great sob, she runs off the stage.

"You have a bloody nose, dear." says Queenie, handing me a bright blue handkerchief that smells like flowers. I look disgustedly at the thing then throw it to the ground.

Queenie scowls at me. "And what's your name?" she asks.

"Denim None." I mutter with a sarcastic edge to my voice "Or None Denim. Whichever you like."

"Was that your sister?"

"Yup." I mutter.

"That name rings a bell," says Queenie, obviously trying to get a noteworthy response out of me. I decide to comply.

"Yeah," I say brightly "My parents stood here thirteen years ago. You guys murdered them."

There's complete silence again.

"Well, then," says Queenie, clearing her throat uncomfortably "Let's hear it for District 8 volunteer, Denim None!"

And not one person claps.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright, so if I get some feedback or a good amount of people read this, I'll update within a day or two.

So if you deeply enjoyed it and you want it to come sooner, you better review. MWAH HA HA! (Imagine that last bit in some European vampire accent)


	2. Kiss

**Author's Note:**

Alright, Chapter 2. It's a bit longer than the last one and involves a lot of thinking... gotta love thinking. At least in books. Anyway, good day to you all.

Another quick disclaimer though. You may find both Moore and Roane to be 'light in a dark world' types, or you may think they're just irritatingly nice. And I'm okay with that.

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

**Kiss**

* * *

It takes Queenie about a solid minute to realize that no one will clap, then the rest of the Reaping goes on. I don't pay attention anymore, I'm too dazed to take in much other than the fact that people are still talking,

Moore and I are taken into the Justice Building. I'm put into a rather lavish room by myself to receive visitors.

After a minute or two I can hear a buzz of activity outside the door. No doubt it'll be people going to bid Moore goodbye. The Avis are all too nice for their own good. Even with his monster size, I could probably kill Moore easily in the Arena. I mean, if he stays that nice.

I can't figure out what I think of this. On the one hand, I should be scared. There's a one in twenty-four chance I'm going to be dead in a few weeks. And it's even worse than one in twenty-four for me, because I'm a girl. A small girl. A thirteen-year-old girl. With no survival skills to speak of.

Well, I've thrown a knife or two back in the community home, but only ever in the heat of the moment. I don't know if it's an actual talent or just luck.

But I do have some survival skills. Roane and his brothers set snares in the forest to catch small game that they sell. Roane's taught me how to make the snares. I can set snares. Not amazingly, but well enough to catch something.

I need to come home. I have to come home for Rosie. For my sister.

I will win.

But I probably won't win.

As far as I know, the only thirteen-year-olds to ever win were in some of the first Games, when there wasn't a greater chance of older kids being picked. Nowadays, with all the tesserae and collective entries, there are way more older kids than younger. Way more kids who are taller and stronger. And then there are the Careers...

I decide that I don't want to think about Careers right now.

Rosemary comes about five minutes into the hour.

I can't figure out how she made her way here, but I forget that instantly. She's still sobbing, and she immediately wraps her arm around me and starts crying onto my shoulder.

"You have to win!" she sobs.

"I'll try." I say "I promise."

She nods and wraps her arm tighter around me.

"Rosie," I say delicately after about a minute.

"Yeah?"

"Rosie, you're going to have to go back to the community home." I tell her.

"What?" says Rosemary, leaning back and looking at me. There's complete confusion in her eyes. "No! You said we'd never have to go there again!"

"Yeah, I did. I know." I say "But I wasn't planning on this. And if I win, we'll get to live in the Victor's Village."

She nods, still confused and even more upset.

"You'll win." she whispers.

"I'll try, Rosie. I really will. I promise." I say softly. We hug again.

While we're hugging, I slide a bracelet off of her arm. It belonged to Mom; it's the only thing we have of our parents. It was Mom's Token in the Arena- the one thing she had from home. And now it will be mine.

"I love you." Rosemary whispers as we continue the hugging.

"I love you, too." I whisper back.

Her crying is getting my shoulder wet.

I could cry. But I won't. I try not to cry as a general rule. Especially now. When my competitors see me, they won't see a weepy little girl. They'll see a girl who's going to see her sister again, no matter what gets in her way.

When the Peacekeepers come to get Rosemary, they have to drag her out. Kicking and screaming.

A few minutes pass, and then Roane comes in. He's pale, and sweaty, and looks like he could be sick any moment.

"Hey." I say, picking at a loose thread on a pillow.

"Hey." he says.

If I come back, Roane will have lost his brother. He can't forgive me for that. What if I have to kill Moore myself?

"Denim, I figure that I'll probably never see you again so I just want you to know that I've kind of wanted to do this for awhile-" he says very fast, then he kisses me.

I'm not sure if I actually like Roane or not, but either way I probably won't be kissing someone ever again, so I throw myself into it.

I've never actually kissed someone before. Unless you count some boy forcing himself on me in the community home a kiss. I don't.

But this is a nice kiss. Well, nice being that it's from a friendly person. Really, it isn't _nice_ at all, it's a frantic clash of lips and a bit of tongue... and I don't like that I'm enjoying it...

Since when did Roane like me? Since when did anyone like me? I'm Miss Never-Smile, hostile orphan girl. Why would Roane like me? Then again, he did make friends with me. So maybe I have some great redeeming quality that I'm not yet aware of.

We jump apart when a Peacekeeper opens the door and tells Roane he needs to leave.

"I'm sorry." he tells me, then leaves.

"I'm sorry if I kill your brother," I mutter after the door closes.

I sit down and wait for the rest of the hour to go up. Nobody else will visit.

I bet the Reaping was rigged. Rigged to pick either me or Rosemary. Rosie was just unlucky.

It'll be a great show, talking about my parents' tragic deaths like they're some big travesty, despite the fact that they could've stopped it. They could've stopped it all. Hundreds upon hundreds have died in the Games. It sickens to me to my very core, which is surprisingly shallow. I've never been one for emotion, except when it comes to Rosemary. And even that is reserved for dire situations.

Like today.

I twist Mom's bracelet around my wrist a few times and stare at it. It's made of leather and is very worn, but right now I don't care. It'll keep me sane.

I think about the Careers again and shiver. It seems like in every Games it's not kid vs. kid, it's Careers vs. everyone else.

They're kids from 1, 2, and 4 that train their whole lives for the Games. They win about half the time. Although, three Careers have won in a row now, so the odds seem to be in favor of another district winning.

I roll over the names of all the victors I've seen in action. The only three I really remember well are those three Careers. Cashmere and Gloss, both from 1, won the last two years. Then there was Finnick Odair, who won the sixty-fifth. He won with a combination of skill with a trident and his ferocious good looks, which drew in a lot of sponsors. I hear he gets with a lot of women in the Capitol now.

Cashmere and Gloss are kind of the same way.

But I'm not breathtakingly beautiful or anything of the sort. Sure, I have a pretty face, but I'm still a little girl. I'm a tiny girl. Four feet tall and you can count each one of my ribs. My enormous amount of hair sure doesn't help. I look about nine. I can't get sponsors by being beautiful.

Maybe cute?

I try a smile and it just hurts my face.

Yeah, screw cute. Cute will not work.

I have to get sponsors the real way. Getting those freaks in the Capitol to like me. I'm not good with people.

Maybe I could share that story about Roane. That could drum up some sympathy. But there's the issue with Roane being Moore's brother…

I throw knives. Maybe. I'm going to focus on that for the time being.

That's my secret skill(maybe). I won't let anyone see it. I'll stay a small girl from an industrial district who volunteered to save her sister's life. Nothing particularly special there, there are enough volunteers from District 8. I just need to fly under the radar.

But flying under the radar requires not getting sponsors.

Damn it, this is hard.

Well, I can stay cute(ish) and charming and clever. That couldn't hurt. Not that I'm particularly charming, though I am cute(except the smiling) and clever. I can work on the charming bit.

But wait! I already have a built-in luminescent _NOTICE ME_ sign. My parents.

I hate this.

* * *

I've never been in a car before. Or a wagon, for that matter. The car ride is short, and then we're at the train station, with the cameras snapping and videoing us. Moore smiles charmingly and waves. When he notices I'm not, he grabs my wrist and starts waving for me.

I bite him.

After this little incident, Queenie ushers the two of us hurriedly inside. The second the doors close, we're off. The speed actually knocks me over, and I fall into Moore, who catches me easily. "Stop being nice to me," I snap, jumping away from him. He chuckles.

This isn't one of the slow coal trains that takes materials and products and rations from district to Capitol to district. This is a real train. Legit.

"How fast does this go?" I ask Queenie.

"Two hundred and fifty miles per hour." she tweets, seemingly pleased that I've finally taken an interest.

I really don't care about that. I just want to figure out how long it will take us to get to the Capitol.

We're about twenty five hundred miles away, so ten hours. Probably a bit more. We'll be there by morning.

Queenie leads me and Moore to our own rooms, and it hits me how lavish this train is. The money it took to furnish it could keep me and Rosemary afloat for years. It could feed everyone in the district. Why are they making us starve when they have all this money laying around?

Then again, they also kill us for their amusement, so I suppose the lavishness of the train isn't exactly the biggest issue at hand.

Queenie tells me to do whatever I want in my room, I can wear whatever I want. Just be ready for dinner in an hour.

"Whatever." I tell her.

I've never had a shower before. Let alone a hot one. I barely even bathe. My hair is greasy and a bit matted. I wash it out with the fancy soaps and when I get out of the shower, a bunch of fans dry me in less than a minute and I smell like a mixture of fruit, flowers, and cinnamon.

Most of the clothes in the dresser seem to have been meant for someone larger than me, but I manage to find an auburn shirt that on me is just a slightly short dress. I throw my hair into a haphazard ponytail just as Queenie knocks and says it's time for dinner.

She leads me to a compartment where there's a table of some fancy wood and dishes that look even fancier. There's art on the walls that I'd love to stick a knife through just to prove a point.

Moore, Cecelia, and Tulle are there. Cecelia is talking with Moore. When Tulle sees me she doesn't even bother to hide her displeasure.

"I'm your mentor." she mutters.

"Goody for me." I snap back.

As soon as Queenie and I sit, Capitol attendants begin bringing out courses of dinner. There's lots of dinner. I'm full by the time the first course is done, but Tulle snaps at me to gain some weight.

Not a bad idea.

Doesn't make me like her.

By the time everything's done with, I feel like I might throw up, but I'm determined to not act weak.

Before the attendants take away the food, I slip a knife from the table. May as well experiment. If knife-throwing is a natural talent for me, I don't want to practice it in front of all the other tributes.

Queenie takes us to another compartment to watch the Reapings.

District 1 gives its usual volunteers. A beautiful, blonde, leggy girl and a big, scary looking guy. 2 is the same. A bigger guy than 1's, and a small and vicious-looking girl. But this girl is a lot younger than the usual. Only fifteen. If her trainers let her volunteer, she must be a force to be reckoned with. I catch her name- Ruth.

District 3 has a boy that's bigger that the Careers, but he's like Moore- he just grew like that. He's still hungry and has as little chance as the rest of us. The girl is my age and I think she's deaf.

District 4 has two volunteers, which they don't always. They're a bit less vicious than the other Career districts. Their kids are tan and muscled from swimming in the ocean their whole life.

5 is average. 6 is average. 7 seems average, but the two kids have the same last name… and they're very definitely in love. I bet 7's Reaping was rigged, too.

Then 8. We watch Queenie say "Let's start with the boys this year!" and pull Moore's name out of the Reaping ball. Then she pulls out Rosemary's. There was a lot more chaos than I had realized. And I look like I did a lot more damage to those Peacekeepers than I actually did.

Great.

When I get up to the stage with my nosebleed and various bruises, I'm just callous and indifferent about everything.

9 has a younger girl. 10 has a surprisingly well-fed looking girl, though she's still trembling head to toe. 11 has a twelve-year-old girl and a young boy. They both have the same last name, but I suspect they're cousins as appose to brother and sister. 12 has two kids that look like they might've died of starvation on the stage, along with the usual drunken antics of its one surviving victor.

When the program ends, Cecelia begins giving Moore advice while Tulle throws in a comment here and there.

I realize that Tulle has no hope for me. She's going to be putting all of her efforts into helping Moore.

I look around the room and settle on the head of a person in a painting. Now is as good a time as any to figure this out...

I throw my knife and it hits its target directly.

Queenie and Cecelia shriek quietly, Moore chuckles, and Tulle just looks pissed off.

I give a little sarcastic curtsy before I yank my knife out of the wall and stalk off to my room.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Yay! Chapter 2! Please review! I have a lot of work this week and reviews would brighten it considerably.


	3. Prep

**Chapter 3:**

**Prep**

* * *

Queenie wakes me up, telling me to get dressed quickly because we're already at the station and we'll be eating with some of the other tributes.

The way that all of the Reapings are timed, and how near or far a district is from the Capitol, we all get there at different times.

8 has their Reaping earliest of all the eastern districts, and we're closer than a few.

I find an acceptably small purple ensemble and follow Queenie out. From the way the engines sound, I suspect we've only arrived an hour or so ago at the most.

The cameras eat up our faces as soon as we're out, shooting questions.

"You can drop the whole hostile thing," Tulle mutters when we reach the car "It's not helping you any."

"She is hostile." chuckles Moore. "Roane tells me all the time."

"Shut up." I tell him.

Tulle chooses not to question who Moore is talking about, but Queenie says "Who's Roane?"

I decide to be snarky and respond "My boyfriend," and I end up saying it the same time Moore says "My brother."

This just makes Moore laugh even harder, so I shoot him a glare.

Tulle only raises her eyebrows, Cecelia looks sad, and Queenie says "Oh my!" and covers her mouth with her hands.

* * *

I've had a rather eventful morning. That included throwing a knife at the girl from 1, who's name is apparently Bubble.

I don't know exactly how it got to that point... but I believe it went something like this...

_"I think I'll cut out her eyes first, like my aunt did to her mother..." _ And at that point I threw a knife. I don't know what made me do it, something inside of me just snapped. Luckily Moore was there...

_"Since when do you throw knives?" _

_I'm confused. Moore knows I throw knives. Unless he's trying to cover for me... "Lucky shot." I shrug._

"Lucky you're so young," remarks one of the members of my prep team, who's orange "There's not really much hair at all."

I wince when she pulls another strip from my legs, and with it all of the hair. The second part of my eventful morning is this torture. These three strange Capitol women removing all the hair from my body after spending an hour arguing with me about being naked.

Apparently, for them to prep me, I have to be naked. I was not okay with that. I'm still not okay with that, but I got over it.

After they're done with ripping hair off of me and bathing me in noxious-smelling liquids, they work with my long mane of 'respectable' hair, making it shiny and bright. They add some lighter and darker shades of brown to it, and I catch the word "highlights." They've trimmed off a good six inches and have added layers. It's a bit curly now. Not ringlet curly, like Rosemary, just wavy.

They paint each one of my nails a different color, then do the same to my toes. I can't really see a pattern, or anything in common with the colors. It's like, dark burgundy, then sky blue, then neon orange. Quite random, really.

When they're done, they call in my stylist. "He'll love you." remarks the orange woman.

I immediately jump up and wrap my robe around me. _He. _"He?" I yell "It's a man? No! No no no! That is _not_ happening!"

"It's aright, dear." says the orange girl. "Zackar's fine."

I shake my head adamantly. "Why can't I have a woman?" I demand.

"Because they're already assigned. You can't switch." says the girl with turquoise and pink hair.

"I'm not letting him see me naked." I say.

"Sweetie, please-"

"Do _not_ call me sweetie!" I growl.

"Really, dear, nothing is going to happen!" exclaims orange.

"Oh, what do you know!" I yell back "Miss orange! Who the hell finds orange skin attractive! That is the ugliest thing I have ever seen-"

"Is there a problem?" asks a man's voice. I turn and see a stylist who I vaguely remember from an interview last year. He's one of those people from the Capitol who is obviously getting along in age, but has had their face operated on. I have to hand it to him, because he's not utterly grotesque like most of the others, but I still think he's ugly, especially with all that makeup and yellow hair. I think he did 11 last year.

"You are not seeing me naked!" I shout.

He holds up his hands in a kind of 'I surrender' way. "How about we go to lunch and talk about it?" he suggests.

"I'm not hungry." I spit, just as my stomach gives a large growl.

"I have to disagree." he says pleasantly.

"Fine." I say. Zackar my stylist leads me out of the room where I've been all morning and to a sitting room with a whole wall overlooking the city. While Zackar sits down on one of two couches along a table, I go over to the window and look out over the city.

It's a bright, sunny day, with what looks like a storm rumbling far away at the horizon. Below, there's color everywhere. Colorful buildings, cars, people. The idiotic, bumbling citizens of the Capitol are trotting along without a care in the world. A large screen in what looks like the City Circle is replaying the Reapings, along with interviews from mentors and footage from the various train stations.

Just as I see the screen roll over to Rosemary's absolutely terrified face, my stomach gives another rumble and Zackar says "You really should eat."

I sigh and turn away from the window just as I join the Peacekeeper fray on the screen.

I sit down at the couch across from him. He presses a button on the table, the top splits open, and another table rises out of it, carrying our food.

It's more of that decadent food that I love and hate so much. In the districts, we're lucky if we can get a piece of fruit. Here, they press a button and magical food just rises out of the ground.

I reach for some tiny pink things that I think I've seen in chapters in my schoolbooks about District 4, but Zackar lightly grabs my hand. "Not those." he says "Your blood work shows you're allergic to seafood, but they're my favorite."

"When did you take my blood?" I demand.

"When you were born." Zackar replies carefully. "They take everyone's blood. But they didn't examine it until you were Reaped."

"Oh." I say stupidly. "Okay."

I instead pick up a bowl of stew and a spoon and curl up on the couch with it, getting as far away from this man as I can.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" asks Zackar as he peels some sort of clear shell off of the pink seafood and dips it in a sauce.

I shrug. "There's no way you're seeing me naked." I say.

"I got that." he says "But I'm afraid it's part of my job. Why are you so opposed to it?"

I turn away, thinking about an incident that I don't like thinking about.

_"Stop it!" I scream "Leave me alone!"_

_"Oh, come on, Denim. We're gonna have some fun..."_

For whatever stupid reason, I start to tear up.

"Do you need to cry?" he asks "It's okay. You haven't cried at all, I'd say you certainly need to get it out-"

"It's not about this!" I snap "It's about something else! Never mind. Why can't you just measure me with the robe on?"

"Because I need to figure out exactly what I'm working with." he says, staring at me quizzically. "Do you want to talk about whatever it is that makes you want to cry?"

"Not with you." I say quietly.

"Alright." he says "How about you think about it like this? It's my job to make you as memorable as possible, so you can get more sponsors, therefore a better chance at living."

"Everybody already knows who I am, my parents where the star-crossed lovers." I say as I scoop stew into my mouth. "Try a different tactic?"

"You've come across as hostile and violent. I need to make you pretty."

This makes me pause. He does have a point. Violent can work once you're in the Arena, but nobody likes a hostile tribute/victor.

I think back to other things District 8 has worn in the opening ceremonies. Your stylists dress you in something that symbolizes your district's main industry. 7 is always trees, and 12 is always coal miners. In 8, we're usually draped in so much fabric it's hard to see us.

"What do you want to dress me in?" I ask.

"A patchwork dress." he tells me. I knit my eyebrows together. "Like a quilt. Different fabrics all sewn together to make a dress."

"That doesn't sound pretty." I say.

"It was quite a feat, but I managed." he says, smiling a bit. I don't smile back. "Do you want to talk about your sister?" he asks.

I shrug.

"Why did you volunteer for her?"

"I think that if I thought about it harder I wouldn't have. It was more of a gut reaction… I love her too much to let her die."

"Then why do you say that if you had thought harder you wouldn't have done it?" he asks.

"Because I think it would probably be kinder to just let her die. She's crazy. If I die, she'll spend her whole life in the community home."

Zackar nods. "The community home is bad, then?"

"Horrible." I confirm. I realize that I've finished off the stew, so I reach for some strawberries. I've never had them before, and when I bite into them I can't decide if they're too sour or not.

When I reach for another strawberry, I look at Zackar. He has this odd look. What with the comments about crying over something else, my opposition to his seeing me naked, and saying that the community home is so awful, I think he's put the pieces together.

"Denim." he says quietly, steadily looking me in the eye. "Whatever has happened to you in the past, I promise you that I'd do nothing of the sort."

I bite the strawberry, staring resolutely at the floor.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I'm still hoping for reviews! I know that it takes awhile for new authors/stories to get them. Come on! (I say in a motivational voice) be the first to review!


	4. Predator

**Chapter 4:**

**Predator**

* * *

The bottom floor of the Remake Center is a big stable, where twelve teams of horses are compiled to pull chariots with the tributes.

The District 8 horses are a strange grey color that almost seems blue, with peppered black and white.

I noticed the mentor from 4 swiping some of the sugar cubes that they feed the horses, so I did the same. I'm sucking on one when Moore walks up behind me. "You look good." he says "Better than me, anyway."

Moore is wearing a classic District 8 Opening ceremonies outfit. A dozen bizarre Capitol trends are rolled into one outfit.

I like my outfit. The dress is actually simple. Knee-length, straps that cover my shoulders, just made of different fabrics and colors. Even my shoes, wedged sandals, are covered in fabric. There's fabric weaved into my hair, which is in an elaborate up-do, and I have a large denim bracelet covering my right forearm.

"No," I say sarcastically "I love your headdress." I swat a silk feather that's dangling from his hat out of his face. "It's great, really. Sugar cube?"

"Sure." says Moore. I give him a sugar cube and for the next minute or so, we both giggle stupidly. It's bizarre, really. Maybe the pressure is starting to crack us up.

"Bubble's staring at you." Moore says.

"How? Jealousy? Caring? Or murder?" I ask casually.

"Definitely murder. Though the other 1's-" (he may have meant 'the other one's') "-staring at you too."

"How?" I ask, confused by this one.

Moore considers for a moment. "Predatory," he decides "But he was staring at the little girl from 11 earlier, so I think he might have some other problems…" he trails off uncomfortably.

I give a legitimate shudder. "Hope I never have to face him off in the Arena." I immediately straighten up, berating myself for this moment of weakness.

"I know you, Denim." says Moore "You don't have to be so defensive."

"I've eaten at the same table as you twice." I snap "That isn't _knowing_ me."

Moore rolls his eyes good-naturedly before Zackar and Moore's stylist rush over and direct us onto our chariot. They spend a minute or so getting us to stand in a particular way.

"Smile and wave." says Zackar.

"And blow kisses!" says Moore's stylist. She's dead white with bright pink hair.

"I'm not doing that." I say flatly.

Then I hear the opening music. It's blasting, but slightly muffled by the fact we're still indoors. Then, two giant doors in front of 1's chariot open, revealing the City Circle. The street is packed with screaming citizens who all can't wait to see us brutishly murdered.

"Are you okay?" says Moore as 1's snow white horses pull them away.

"Fine, why?"

"I don't know, you just look a bit pale."

"Oh, don't worry," I respond airily "I'm just thinking about murder."

The space between 1's chariot and our own leaving the stables passes with unsettling speed. Soon, we're watching the love birds from 7 (who are dressed as trees, as usual) roll out, and we're next.

I grit my teeth, practicing my usually nonexistent smile. I think I've forgotten how to do it properly.

"Just don't show any teeth." advises Moore. "Try to look shy."

I shrug. That'll probably be best.

Our chariot begins moving. I smile (ish) and wave a bit. A catch a look on the big screen and see that I _do _look really pretty. In fact, when the camera is on our chariot they seem to be making an effort to focus on me, and not Moore, who's practically an eyesore.

Our chariot makes a loop of the City Circle, then stops in front of President Snow(I'd like to murder _him_)'s mansion. We wait for a bit for the other four districts, then the music ends and President Snow walks out onto the balcony. He's a very small, thin man with paper white hair. He has the impression of someone who could fall apart with one cough. Not the type of person you'd expect to be sending twenty-three and a half kids to their death every year.

He gives the official welcome, which is just as boring as the Treaty of Treason right before the Reaping.

After he's done, the Capitol anthem plays, the chariots go around the City Circle again, then into the Training Center, which will be our home (I prefer to think of it as a prison) until the Games begin.

We're immediately surrounded by our stylists, prep teams, and Cecelia, who are all talking about how great we did.

"Good job, kid." says Moore, giving a genuine smile and pulling a strand of cotton out of my hair, which causes a large lock to fall out of the elaborate hairstyle and onto my back. A few of the prep team members shoot him dirty looks, but I snort and yank the fabric from his hand.

"Good job!" squeals Queenie, rushing over to us.

"Oh, you're still here?" I mutter.

Queenie 'tsk's me, then leads Moore and I to an elevator. It's beautiful, really. Made of crystal, so you can watch the people shrink as you go up.

We end up in an elevator with the young kids from 11, who are wearing tight brown outfits that cover their entire body except for their heads. There's actual fruit and vegetables dangling from them. Agriculture.

"Can I have one of those?" I ask the girl, pointing at a strawberry. She's as small as me, with light brown skin, big doe-eyes and pretty, curly hair. I remember she has the same last name as the boy, but I still think that they're cousins, because despite the fact that they have similar faces, he's very pale.

"Sure." she replies, plucking one from her forearm and handing it to me.

"Really?" says Moore, looking amused.

"I had them for lunch, they're _good_!" I exclaim. I turn back to the girl. "What's your name?"

"Peach." she says shyly, obviously not have been expecting a real conversation to crop up. However, before one can really occur, the elevator stops at the eighth floor and Moore and I get off.

"I like her." I declare when the doors close.

"Well, good for you. She's gonna die." says Tulle from across the room. She knocks back a glass of some sort of alcohol. "You should go check on your kids." she adds to the two sitting across from her. One's the only victor from 12, the one that's always drunk. I think the other's from 11, and he only has half of one of his arms.

Both of the men take their respective bottles and go to the elevator, washing me with the smell of alcohol.

"They seem great." I mutter.

The District 8 floor is enormous. It's ridiculous. It's all plush and fluffy and breakable and colorful. Then Queenie takes me to my room, which is bigger than mine and Rosemary's apartment back home.

There are too many buttons, as well. I doubt I would be able to press them all even if I had my whole life in front of me. I take a shower, which involves hundreds of buttons that each activate a different soap or jet or whatever. Then when I'm done, there's a fan that dries me and some sort of box that sends up a current that dries and untangles my hair. I can apparently program my closet to pick an outfit that's to my taste. The clothes all fit me this time. The windows can zoom in and out on different parts of the city, so I spend some time examining all the idiots.

I see a menu that has about every type of food imaginable, and I'm about to order something when Queenie knocks on the door and tells me it's time for dinner.

Zackar is pointing out different parts of the city to Moore from a balcony, Tulle is pouring herself some wine, and Cecelia is devouring some bizarre looking food, which only adds to my pregnancy suspicion.

As soon as everybody sits down and the Capitol attendants start bringing out food, Moore tells Tulle "Denim threw a knife at the District 1 girl."

"Denim!" says Queenie, looking scandalized.

"Traitor." I mutter.

"You realize that was your one secret weapon and now you've lost it?" says Tulle without expression.

"I covered for her." says Moore. "Made it seem like it was a lucky shot."

"Stop being nice to me." I say.

"Normal people _like_ friends." teased Moore.

"You're not my friend."

"Stop it." snaps Tulle "You're going to be killing each other next week, we don't need this."

"He started it." I say childishly.

"And I'm finishing it." growls Tulle. "Stop it. Now."

Moore and I glance at each other and we can't help but dissolve into uncontrollable giggles. Again, I think the Games are starting to crack us up.

Queenie seems relieved that we're acting like normal children, but Tulle is still glaring at us. Cecelia whispers something to her, and she doesn't pester us for the rest of dinner.

We watch the recap of the Opening Ceremonies. As usual, the kids from 1 in their shiny outfits (District 1 is luxury) make quite an impression. The commentators note that the couple from 7 is holding hands, and one of them says "Oh, I have a note here that says they're married."

Nailed it.

I look pretty, and they say something about it, along with a few words about my parents, and that they think I'll make an alliance with the 7s. Doubtful.

The kids from 9 also make a good impression. Their stylists actually got creative this year. They're both wearing shimmering gold outfits, which I think is a better interpretation of the grain district than dressing them as a loaf of bread.

The kids from 11 are holding hands. "Oh, I have a note here that says they're cousins."

Nailed it again.

This year, the poor kids from 12 are butt naked and covered in black dust. At least they have some points for originality, even if they won't get any sponsors.

When the Capitol seal closes up the show, Moore says "Where's Cecelia?" I look up and realize that both she and Queenie are gone.

"Arranging sponsors for you. She and Queenie have been getting calls all day." says Tulle.

Moore looks away, almost a little bashfully, so I say "What did you expect? You're built like a bear."

Moore snorts. "I shouldn't be getting sponsors, you should. You throw knives."

"And I'm also a little girl." I reply "I've got to prove myself first."

There doesn't seem to be anything else to do, so I say "I'm going to bed."

I get up and go to my room. My closet spews out some silk pajamas and I find a thing that braids my hair for me. Are these luxury objects? Or technology? I want to say technology, because I doubt the idiots from 1 could build these things.

Just as I'm about to crawl into bed, my door opens. It's Tulle.

"What?" I snap.

She purses her lips, looking determinately away from me. Finally, she throws me something. I catch it. It's a tape labeled _55HG_.

"Your parents' Games." says Tulle. "You can watch it if you want."

With that, she walks away, closing the door behind her.

I look down at the tape in my hands. My parents' Games. I don't know much about it. Just that someone from 1 was the victor that year. Bubble's aunt, I suppose.

I could've watched if I wanted to. We have televisions back in 8. Because we have factories, our electricity is more reliable than some of the other districts. I could turn on the TV, there's always an old Hunger Games playing. I could've found it if I looked hard enough.

But here it is in my hand. I can watch the full Games on one of the clear Capitol televisions.

I'm not sure if I want to.

I peek my head out the door. There's nobody out there. I take a deep breath, then make up my mind and step outside.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Review, review, review please! I'll give you kisses! (The Hershey's kind.)


	5. Alliance

**Author's Note:**

I'm very, very close to actually finishing this story... I have like, half a page left. But I just can't figure out _exactly_ how to end it.

Also, this chapter has a small reference to Rue as being related to the kids from 11, but don't worry, I won't be cheesy and go any farther into it.

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

**Alliance**

* * *

"Moore!" I hiss, rapping on his door. It opens, and Moore peeks his head out.

"What's wrong?" he asks, looking a bit alarmed "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I say quietly. I hold up the tape. "Can you watch this with me?"

He glances at it, then looks back at me and nods.

We walk back to that room with the big TV. I sit down on one of the couches and bury myself in the cushions while Moore loads up the tape. He sits down next to me.

It starts with the Reapings.

A small girl and boy from 1 are both replaced by volunteers. It focuses mainly on the girl, who's name is Tourmaline. She greatly resembles Bubble, though I think all of the Careers from the same district resemble each other.

They skim over most of the others, save for 2 and 4. They also include more of my parents.

"Tory Denim!" is called. It focuses on my mother. She looks a lot like me, though taller and more mature. She has insane bags under her eyes. She's so tired that she barely looks terrified as she hands over a tiny, one-armed baby to the man beside her, who's already holding another baby and is looking mortified.

When the lady calls "Aivan Denim!" my mother has more of a reaction. She falls to her knees, clutching her chest, but to her credit, doesn't shed a tear.

Dad's face is completely blank. Two girls tap him on the shoulder and he hands me and Rosemary over to them. Then he joins Mom onstage.

The rest of the Reapings are skimmed over.

It cuts to the Opening Ceremonies. There's not much there, and it doesn't focus on anyone but Tourmaline, then it's the training scores.

You don't get to see what people do to get their training scores, only the scores themselves. It's one from twelve, one being the worst. Generally, the Careers are in a eight to eleven range, and everyone else is in the three to seven range, with a few exceptions here and there.

This year, one of the exceptions is Dad. He gets a ten.

Only Tourmaline gets her full interview, and everyone else is just snippets. Mom gets to say "Yes… we're married. We have two little girls back home." and Dad says "I'm going to get Tory home."

The first day of the Games. Every Games starts with each tribute rising out of a platform in the ground around the Golden Cornucopia, which is full of and surrounded by supplies. It's always a bloodbath. A dozen kids, give or take a few, always die there.

At the end of the bloodbath, all of the Careers, Mom and Dad, the boy from 6, the boy from 10, and the girl from 12 are still standing.

The first night, all of the Careers leave to go hunting. Mom and Dad were waiting around for them to leave. Dad ran in, grabbed a backpack full of food, a couple of knives, a water bottle and some iodine, and a sleeping bag, then ran back to Mom. They found a cave to sleep in.

Everyone made it through the first night.

The second day, I found out why Dad got his ten.

He threw knives, too. A wandering Career came by and saw them, and before he could register what he was seeing he had a knife in his windpipe.

Mom and Dad outlasted two Careers and the girl from 12. But then, Tourmaline got Mom.

She cut out her eyes. Just like Bubble said. The next day, Dad got skewered by a spear.

I vaguely register Moore holding my hand through this, and something rolling down my face, but the shock just made everything blank.

It was odd, really. Because I had always imagined them having these big, possibly heroic deaths. Making it to the very end. But no. It was just like that. Dead. Nothing special, really.

"Are you aright?" Moore says.

"I don't know." I whisper.

"Do you need a hug?"

"No."

He hugs me anyway. Instead of shrugging him off, I lean onto his shoulder. He holds me for a few minutes, stroking my hair. I realize that I'm crying. Not the sobbing kind of crying. Just tears rolling down my cheeks.

"How do you know how to do this?" I ask "You have three brothers."

"Mom always has a breakdown right before the Reaping." Moore answers. "It was worse this time…"

"I'd imagine." I whisper. Before there can be anymore friendliness between the two of us, I throw off his arms and run to my room, get into my bed, and somehow fall asleep.

* * *

I wake up in the morning to find a comfortable outfit at the foot of my bed. I take a shower, put on the outfit, and go to the dining room for breakfast.

"No knife throwing at training." says Tulle when I sit down. "Learn to survive. And lift some weights."

"I'm four feet tall." I say, pouring myself some milk "I don't think weights will help much."

Moore and I finish breakfast and Queenie takes us down to the training room. There's all sorts of stations. Weapons and survival skills. The other tributes are in a circle around a woman who I suppose is the head trainer. As Moore and I walk towards the circle, some people come over and pin '8's onto our backs.

Standing here surrounded by all of the other tributes, the ones who are years older than me, the well-fed Careers, it makes me realize just how tiny I am. I'm even small in school, surrounded by kids my own age. But this makes me feel like a mouse.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10 are already here. After about a minute or two, 11 joins us, then 6, then 12.

I give Peach and the other 11 a half-smile, because having something close to an ally couldn't hurt. And there's no way anyone else would pick me.

Besides Moore. And I am _not _getting into that.

I'd rather just have Peach. Even small, her cousin is still a lot bigger than me.

The head trainer lady talks for awhile. Go to whatever station you want, no combat with other tributes, but there are sparring partners available.

I don't listen much.

When she sets us loose, almost everybody goes to a weapon station. I follow Peach and her cousin to the edible plants station.

They both grab a test, which I'm sure they'll plow through quickly. I, on the other hand, will have to take my time looking through the book.

I'm still not sure I like the boy, but it looks like he and Peach will be a package deal. I'm not sure why I want to be in an alliance with Peach so bad. Maybe it's just all those years of watching the small kids get picked off one by one.

"So what's your name?" I ask the boy. The racket from all of the kids practicing killing people is easily masking our conversation.

"Perry." he says quietly.

Peach and Perry. I like it. "You're cousins, right?" They both nod.

I purse my lips. I'm not good at this. Maybe the truth will work. "I'm not really good at this." I say "I'm trying to make friends."

Peach looks up at me "Why?"

I shrug. "We're the little ones. If we band together we could make it."

I can tell now that they're really listening, so I continue. "Well, there's no way in the world I can remember all this, and I'd like not to die from poison berries, that would just be embarrassing. So obviously, you could help me there. And I can set snares to catch small game… and… bigger game…" I trail off here. They understand what I mean.

"How do you know how to do that?" Peach asks curiously.

"My friend, Roane." I explain "That's how his family makes a lot of their living."

Perry smiles. "Anything else you can do?" he asks. Almost teasingly. He's taller than me and Peach, but he can only be a year older than me, at the most.

I smile back. "Yeah. But I think I'll save that for the Arena."

"How do we know you're not lying?" asks Perry.

"Wait for the private training scores." I say simply. "I'll give you some time to think," I add, then walk over to the fire-building station.

* * *

The Careers have Moore cornered.

It's somewhat amusing, watching them try and talk him into their alliance. He's easily bigger than all of them, even if they're better fed.

I wonder suddenly if they may actually talk him into it. Sure, he's nice. But most people would do about anything to live. Who's to say Moore wouldn't join the Careers?

Peach and Perry suddenly sit down across from me, blocking my view.

I decide to throw Moore out of my mind, and I give my attention to Peach and Perry.

"We've thought about it," says Perry lowly, despite the fact that the rowdy Careers would keep anyone else from overhearing our conversation. "But what is your super-secret-skill?"

"Told you, I can't tell." I say. "At least for now."

"Come on," says Perry "We're not gonna run off to the Careers."

I bite my lip, considering. He's right. I take my knife, then mime throwing it towards the Careers.

Peach's eyes widen. "Ooh!" she says.

"Yeah," I add loudly "But it was a lucky shot, I'm surprised I didn't take her head off."

Bubble shoots me a dirty look. She can't see Peach and Perry's puzzled expressions. When she turns back to Moore, I whisper "Bad temper. Had to cover it up. I threw it at Bubble's head yesterday at breakfast."

"Oh." says Perry, nodding. "Where'd you learn how to do that?"

I shrug. "Just in my blood, I guess. I watched my parents' Games. My dad could do it, too…" I trail off and shove a piece of bread into my mouth. "Tell me about your family." I say.

"I have two little brothers and a little sister." says Peach. "Perry has a little brother and sister. Our dads are brothers."

"We live across the street from each other." says Perry. "We have a lot of family, though, more than just us. We're the older ones. We had a lot of entries."

"How many?" I ask.

"Seventeen." says Peach. "Perry had forty, though."

"How did you get so many?" I ask, shocked.

"We're the oldest." shrugs Peach. "We had to take out some for our cousins. My mom has two younger sisters, they're both married, and there's seven kids: Rue, Aster, Heath, Violet, Rainie, Avis, and Nan."

"And my mom has a bit more family." says Perry. "Luckily, our dads don't have anymore siblings."

"And I thought I had a lot to worry about." I muse.

"What about your family?" asks Peach.

"Just me and my sister." I say "We have an aunt, but she and her husband have too much on their plate without two extra mouths to feed. I don't like her, anyway."

"Why?" asks Peach.

"When my parents died she wasn't even married yet." I say bitterly. "She could've taken us."

"Life kind of sucks like that." says Perry.

Alright, I like him too.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Please, please review!


	6. Thought

**Author's Note:**

Good news! I finished the story! Which means that I'll probably be updating once a day now!

By the way... what's with the no reviewing? I can see the view chart, how are so many people reading this and not one of you has reviewed! It makes me sad... (not really, but a review would be nice.)

* * *

**Chapter 6:**

**Thought**

* * *

I spend the rest of the day with Peach and Perry, and all of the next day.

We spend most of our time with survival skills. I'm almost hopeless in about everything but snares and fire-starting. I completely give up memorizing all those edible plants and bugs, and any knots that Roane hasn't already taught are lost on me.

Maybe it's because I hate this instructor.

When we go to the snares station, Moore decides to come over and be a smart-ass like he usually is. I slap him and get reprimanded by the trainer.

We go to a few weapons stations. I'm okay with bow and arrow. Definitely not swords. Axe-throwing… okay. But the extra weight kind of throws me off. I'm better off with the hatchets. I can swing a mace okay, but I don't like that it comes back around to you.

When we go to knives, I make sure to purposely throw bad.

Peach and Perry teach me how to climb. It doesn't take that much effort, because I'm small and nimble like Peach, even if I don't have years of experience.

Tulle seems to hate me more than ever now that I've made an alliance with the other two smallest kids. I think about getting in with the deaf girl from 3, but decide that my life is worth more than pissing off Tulle.

At lunch on the third day of training, the gamemakers start calling us in for our private sessions.

The private sessions are simple. It's time alone with the gamemakers to show them our skills. They've been watching us all three days, but this is where we show off what we're best at.

This is how they come up with our training scores, which will be broadcast tonight.

After people are called, they don't come back. There's about a five-to-ten minute period between each name called.

By the time Moore's name is called, my stomach is in uncomfortable knots.

"You'll be fine." whispers Peach, noticing how I'm wringing my hands. She places hers over mine and looks me in the eyes. "You'll be just fine."

They call me, and I walk into the training room. The gamemakers are all eating, but when they see me, most of them perk up.

I walk straight to the knives, wasting no time. I throw them at any difficult target I can find, close or long range, whether it was designed to be a target or not. I make knives hit the hilt of other knives, I slice ropes, I hit the dots of the 'i's on signs. After less than a minute, after I've thrown nearly all of the knives on the rack, I pause, considering where to throw my last one.

I settle on the center of an intricate design on the Head Gamemaker's chair. He's a bit startled, but laughs sportingly with the rest of the gamemakers, plucks it out of the chair, and begins cutting his food with it.

"Anything else?" he asks with an air of amusement.

"I can set a decent snare," I shrug.

"Very well, you can go."

I immediately dash for the elevators and head up to the eighth floor.

"What did you do?" demands Tulle immediately, stepping over so she's inches from me.

"What?" I ask distractedly.

"Moore's been back for less than three minutes." she snaps "If you upset them they will blow you up!"

When you're in the Arena, you're completely at the mercy of the gamemakers. They don't usually kill people, but sometimes they will just to remind us they can, or if the person starts to get out of control.

"I didn't do anything, I just throw fast." I say, rolling my eyes and brushing past her.

Tulle really has some hostility issues. Not that I don't, hers are just worse.

Moore is sitting on the couch across from the TV, watching a tape of an old Games. Cecelia's in the dining room, chattering away on a small phone "Yes… I think twelve would be agreeable… Alright, I'll give him the message…"

I sit down next to Moore just as a scary looking girl slices off some poor kid's arm.

"So what did you do?" I ask him.

"Set some snares. Threw around some weights. Ripped off a dummy's head. Nothing special." I roll my eyes. "You?"

"Just threw knives at everything in sight." I shrug "There are holes _everywhere_."

He smiles.

Dinner is anxious and quiet. Cecelia seems especially nervous, probably because she wants Moore's score to match the amount of sponsor calls she's been getting. Tulle just seems pissed off, which isn't out of the ordinary. Queenie keeps reprimanding Moore for eating with his hands.

After dinner, we go back to the TV room and watch them play the scores. They show a headshot of the tribute with their score under it.

The District 1 boy, Luxe, gets an eight. Bubble gets a nine. The male 2, Ender, gets a ten, and little, vicious Ruth gets an eleven. The boy from 3 gets a five, and the deaf girl gets a surprising six. Not that a six is all that great, but she's small and deaf. The boy from 4 gets a ten, and the girl from 4 gets a nine.

The kids from 5 and 6 all get in the four-to-six range. Mr. Lovebird from 7 gets an eight, which is highly impressive. I don't catch his name, but I do catch the girl's- Silva. She gets a four.

Moore's face comes onto the screen, along with a nine, which isn't all that surprising for someone his size, though I think they might have counted a bit too much on his strength.

Finally, my face comes up. "Miss None Denim…" says the commentator. He pauses. "Is this a mistake?" he hisses at the person behind the camera. There's some shuffling, then confirmation that whatever the guy has is correct.

"Well, then!" he laughs "Miss None Denim, with a score of eleven!"

Eleven. Why the hell would they give me an eleven? Even if I was so impressive, I'm still tiny. I should be able to get an eight, maximum. Why would they give me an eleven?

Do they honestly think I could survive?

"Damn it." says Tulle quietly.

"What?" I snap.

"The Careers'll be on you the entire time. That score is too high."

"Whatever." I mutter.

Both of the kids from 9 get fives. The boy from 10 gets a five, and then the girl gets a nine. There seems to be an unusual number of hidden talents this year.

Perry comes up onscreen with a four. While not very impressive, I know that it doesn't really matter. Perry's smart. He knows his plants. Every lunch he talks about all the ways we could poison the Careers' food supply. Peach gets a six, which is higher than I expected. She's told me about what she can do- jump around from tree to tree. Perry's told me that she's amazing. While the gamemakers seem to disagree, it will still be an advantage for us.

The kids from 12 both get fours, then the Capitol seal, over and out. I'd like to go upstairs and congratulate Peach on her score, but Queenie's already pestering me and Moore about going to bed, because we apparently have a long day tomorrow.

Laying in bed, I have a weird thought. All the girls that have slept in this room… including me, sixty-eight of them. And sixty-five of them are dead. Soon, it could be sixty-six.

And all of the other kids that have died, as well. I've never thought about the sheer number of kids that have been killed. Twenty-three every year. Nearly a hundred every four. Sixty divided by four is fifteen. Fifteen hundred. More than fifteen hundred. So many kids. Kids with families and friends and people whose lives will be damaged by their loss.

They could've been so easily saved. Just saying the word. Why do we have to be punished for what people did nearly a hundred years ago? Why do the people of the Capitol not see how horrible this is? Why are people so cruel? Why do 1, 2, and 4 train their kids to go along with this? Why do the Peacekeepers go along with this? How do the mentors deal with seeing their kids die every year? How do they deal with the memories? How does it feel to kill someone?

How does it feel to die?

Is it peaceful, and then you're gone? Or is it painful until there's nothing? Do you drift away, or stay alert until the end? How do you deal with the terror and the paranoia? Knowing that any move you make could get you killed?

And what does it feel like to starve to death? Die of thirst? Heat? Cold? What does a broken bone feel like? Running until you can't breathe? Not being able to sleep because you know you might not wake up? Suffer through the cold night because a fire would be your doom?

What's entertaining about it, watching kids suffer? I've heard the word humanity before, but I think humanity is reserved for children. Small children. And not even all of them.

I don't think that anybody is good. The bumbling citizens of the Capitol surely outnumber the government and the Peacekeepers. Why don't they raise their voice? Why don't they care about us, the people that provide them with everything it takes to make their lives plushy and happy?

Do they even understand? That while they're watching the Hunger Games, eating their fancy food on their luxurious couches in their soft, expensive clothing that there are people dying? That people are starving? That people are suffering for their lavish, worthless lives?

I don't think they understand that we don't like the Games. They think we look at it as an honor to be chosen. How would they feel if their children were in the Reaping ball? If it was their children being taken away and slaughtered?

And we can't say anything either, or we'll be killed ourselves.

I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight.

I get out of bed and head to Moore's room. I walk in without knocking and jump in the bed next to him.

"What are you doing?" he whispers.

"Couldn't sleep." I shrug, laying my head on his arm.

"So your first thought was to come in here?"

I shrug again. "I sleep in the same bed as Rosie back home. I figure this might help."

"Alright." he mutters, closing his eyes. I think he's already asleep again.

Moore. With his brothers and his parents and his friends. He has a girlfriend, too. The type that everyone expects them to get married in a few years.

She'll be crushed if he dies.

I wonder if Roane will be crushed if I die? Does he even like me, really? Or was that kiss just because he was sure I was going to die and he figured he may as well give me the experience?

But what if I win? What if I'm the victor? What if I live in one of those big houses in the Victor's Village, having to mentor children that will surely die, having to relive the memories, and deal with Moore's family?

Would Roane hate me if I won?

Why do I care so much about Roane? This is stupid.

I almost punch my pillow, them remember that my pillow is Moore's arm.

So I just turn on my side and watch his face for a bit. For someone so scary, he looks so nice. Peaceful. I wonder what it's like to believe in good? To have the ability to care about more than one other person.

And they're just going to kill him. He's a good person. They're going to kill Peach and Perry, too. That little deaf girl from 3. They were going to kill Rosemary.

And they're going to try and kill me.

I sigh, and drift into a fitful sleep, content with the resolution that I simply hate people.

* * *

Review!


	7. Interview

**Chapter 7:**

**Interview**

* * *

I'm woken by a smack over the head.

"Ow!" I hear someone groan beside me.

"What was that for?" I mutter, snuggling into Moore's side and pulling the covers over my head.

"Get up before someone sees you!" hisses Queenie's scandalized voice.

"What do you think we were _doing_?" I hear Moore ask incredulously.

"I don't want to know what you were _doing_!" says Queenie in an even more high-pitched tone than usual "I don't need to know! But this is hardly a time to get involved with anyone!"

I throw the covers down and look at Queenie, knitting my eyebrows together. "I just couldn't sleep." I tell her.

Queenie "Tut"s and says "Hardly a reason for such things!" then stalks out of the room.

"She does know I'm thirteen, right?" I say to nothing in particular.

"I bet that's not even a scandalous age in the Capitol." chuckles Moore. I roll my eyes and shove him. "Wow." I say "You have big arm muscles."

"Oh, yeah, the Careers loved them." he says sarcastically, flexing them for me.

"Whatever." I say, climbing out of his bed. "Thanks for last night."

"Anytime." he says, giving me a fake salute.

"I hate you." I say airily as I walk out of the room.

"You too, kid!"

Today is prep for the interviews tomorrow.

After breakfast, Tulle takes me aside to talk strategy. This doesn't work out so well, because we hate each other so much. Within ten minutes, Tulle is practically frothing at the mouth. "Just be yourself!" she finally screeches.

"Fine, can I leave now?"

I spend the rest of the morning in my room, ordering off of the menu and zooming in on different parts of the city.

My afternoon with Queenie isn't much better. After lecturing me about decency for about twenty minutes, she sticks me in an enormous, fluffy pink dress with death trap high heel shoes. She keeps smacking my wrists and berating my stature and instructing me how to do this and that. Finally, I rip off the dress and stalk out to the dining room to get some leftovers from lunch.

I'm halfway through a bread roll when I notice the chuckling. I turn and see Moore leaning against the doorframe.

"What?" I snap.

"That's a good look for you." he laughs.

I'm initially confused before I remember that I had absolutely nothing on under the dress. So now I'm standing naked in the dining room.

"Thanks," I reply, then go to my room to change.

Dinner is mostly spent talking about strategy, then we all go to bed.

The next morning, I'm awoken by my prep team.

They spend the day washing me, doing my hair, painting my nails, and whatever else they can think up to torture me with.

By the time they leave and Zackar enters, I'm actually relieved. He has a big clothing bag, which will have my dress in it.

I'm hoping beyond hope for nothing like what Queenie had me practicing in earlier.

"Close your eyes, I'll put it on you." he tells me.

"Dramatic effect?" I guess, closing my eyes.

"Sure."

He slips the fabric over my head, spends a minute or so adjusting it, then tells me "Open your eyes."

I look in the mirror. I definitely like this dress better than Queenie's. It's strapless, but not the showy kind of strapless the Career girls will likely have. The top is dark red, and below the waist it flairs out a bit and is deep purple. It's a bit shorter than knee-length. I do a turn and find that it fans out.

"I like it." I declare.

"Good." says Zackar. "After your eleven, I didn't want to put you in anything too little-girly."

He hands me my shoes, which are simple black flats. As I put them on, I say "Are you sure you want to send me out there with my hair loose?"

I haven't worn my hair loose since I was little. It reaches down to my knees.

"Absolutely. It's wonderful and shiny." says Zackar, smiling.

I roll my eyes at him. "Whatever." I mutter.

The interviews take place in the City Circle. They've set up a big stage. The tributes all sit in their own chair, still in sight, at the back of the stage, and they go up to sit with Caesar Flickerman when their interview begins.

Caesar Flickerman has been the host of the Games for as long as I can remember. He's one of those Capitol people that doesn't change. At all. Though, every year he changes the color of his hair, eye shadow, and lips. This year it's bright yellow. But he's wearing the same midnight blue suit as usual.

Moore looks good. He's in a dark green suit that brings out his eyes. He's wearing a bowtie, so I reach out and straighten it because I can't help but not. He's wearing a _bowtie_.

He chuckles at me.

They boy from 7 is to my right. He's pretty good-looking. Tall, tan, sandy hair. Silva looks… scared.

"Do you think they did it on purpose?" I ask them.

"What?" asks the girl.

"Getting a married couple the same year as me, whose parents died in the Games. Think they did it on purpose?"

The boy bites his lip, then shrugs noncommittally.

I take that as a yes.

Bubble is called up first. She's in one of those weird dresses that's more like shorts sewn to a shirt. It's baby blue, strapless, really short, and almost completely see-through.

I dislike her even more.

The boy from 1 is creeping me out even more the way he talks. He has this way of talking that reminds me of… never mind.

Ruth, the girl from 2, talks about how excited she is to rip people's throats out. I wonder if she has all her marbles?

The boy from 2 is big and scary-looking, and he sounds like it, too.

I'm worried about the girl from 3, Telly, but it turns out she can read lips. Caesar just needs to talk a bit slowly. She talks in a slightly strangled, very thick voice.

"Don't count me out just because I can't hear." she says "I'm smart. And weaker kids have won the Games."

People win by chance sometimes. Like Cecelia. A Career just needs a bad injury, or to have their supplies destroyed, and then you have a chance victor. They're never as famous as the ones that win by hacking and slashing.

The Careers from 4 are the usual, just talking about how excited they are to kill some people. The kids from 5 don't leave any lasting impression, neither do the kids from 6.

Silva spends most of her interview looking sad, and ends it with bursting into tears and running back to her seat. While the Capitol audience sighs in sympathy, I notice the suspicious lack of tears on Silva's face.

Maybe she's not completely brainless.

The boy's name is Pine. He talks about how he's planning on getting Silva out of the arena, and not himself. He'll kill himself if he has to.

When I'm called, I'm surprised for a moment because I was too busy focusing on Pine to notice I was next.

"Hello, Denim." says Caesar pleasantly. "How are you?"

Tulle told me to just be myself.

So I decide to be myself. I throw my legs over the side of the chair and throw my hair over my shoulder. "Wondering how the hell I'm gonna follow that mess!" I scoff. The crowd laughs.

"It is a pretty tough act to follow, huh?" Caesar laughs. "How about we talk about your eleven, then?"

"Oh yes," I say a bit saucily, waggling my eyebrows sarcastically. "My eleven."

"How does a little girl like you get an eleven?" he demands good-naturedly. "I mean, you're _the _smallest tribute this year. One of the smallest ever."

"It's a talent." I say "Gamemaker-wooing." The crowd laughs.

"Really, you can't tell us?" says Caesar, pouting at me.

"Alright," I sigh, leaning in closer to him. "C'mere." I whisper. He smiles and leans in closer.

"Closer." I hiss. The crowd laughs as Caesar gets even closer. "Closer."

When Caesar's ear is about an inch from my mouth, I whisper "It's a secret- Shh."

The crowd laughs uproariously as Caesar and I both lean back.

"Alright then," Caesar laughs. "Want to talk about your sister?"

I frown. I imagine it looks like I deflated somewhat. "Not particularly," I answer quietly.

"Oh, come on, Denim," says Caesar, poking me in the shoulder. "Just tell us about her. What's she like?"

I shrug. "Crazy," I answer. The crowd laughs a bit. "Literally, she's crazy. That's why I volunteered for her- she wouldn't even know what was going on. Like, if you were interviewing her right now she'd just be staring off into space."

"I see," says Caesar, nodding solemnly. "So do you have a strategy at all?"

I shrug. "I'm pretty good at just rolling with whatever's thrown at me. I think I'll see the Arena and work my way from there. I'm just hoping I can find food and water- dying from thirst would be _really_ embarrassing."

The crowd laughs at this.

"So," says Caesar "I know that you're not _really_ old enough to be dating. But you're a pretty girl- anyone special at home?"

I purse my lips, considering. I settle on "It's complicated."

"Aw, come on," pouts Caesar "Can't you un-complicate it?"

I shrug. "There's not really anything," I answer "My best friend from home, when I got Reaped, he kissed me. I don't think it meant anything, really."

"Well, you never know," says Caesar hopefully. A buzzer goes off to announce the end of my time.

"Well, that's it. Good luck Denim None."

I sit down and Moore goes up. He mentions his girlfriend, whose name I don't remember. They don't talk about much in particular… well, I kind of zone out, so I guess I wouldn't know.

I try to pay a bit of attention when Peach and Perry are up, but I just can't manage it.

After the interviews are over, the tributes all make our way to the elevators and to our respective floors.

We eat dinner and watch the interviews. I'm certainly different than the others, considering my lazy, uncaring demeanor, but I'm completely forgettable.

Tulle and Cecelia tell me and Moore to go to bed after Queenie gives us a tearful last word of advice, which is to make sure she looks good. Thanks, Queenie.

After I shower and put on a nightgown, I don't even bother trying to sleep in my own bed. I head straight for Moore's room and get into bed with him. He puts an arm around me and strokes my hair.

"You'll be alright," he tells me.

"No, I won't." I whisper.

"Yeah, you will." he says in a soothing voice. "If it goes my way, then you'll win. But you need some sleep."

I nod as he continues running his hands through my hair. I've left it down, because something as simple as putting up my hair feels like a waste of time when my life could very well be over in less than twenty-four hours.

I think we both lay there, awake, for maybe an hour or two before I actually manage to fall asleep.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

No, nothing is going to happen between Denim and Moore. And review!


	8. Bloodbath

**Chapter 8:**

**Bloodbath**

* * *

I'm taking long gulps from a glass of water. I don't know when my next drink will be, so I want to be as hydrated as I can.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Zackar asks me.

I nod. "Just feeling a bit queasy," I respond.

"Eat these crackers." Zackar responds, picking a small bowl up off the table and handing them to me. I nibble on them in between drinks of water. I think this is my eighth glass.

I glance over to the tube the will take me up to the Arena all too soon. I could be dead in ten minutes.

The thought makes me tremble.

Zackar takes my hand. "You'll be alright." he whispers. "You're smart. You're talented. And from what Moore tells me, you can throw quite a punch."

I laugh half-heartedly.

I look down at my shoes. They're brown sneakers, built to be waterproof and good for running. I'm wearing long socks, ankle length denim pants, a white cotton short-sleeved shirt, and a brown jacket. The jacket is one of the more interesting parts for me. The outside is water-proof, and the inside is soft. But it's obviously not designed for warmth, more cover than anything else.

Considering the shoes and the jacket, I'm obviously going somewhere mildly damp, which relaxes me a bit. But not much.

Zackar has put my hair in a tight, elaborate braid which I won't be able to undo unless I actively try.

On my arm, I have my mother's bracelet. I toy with it a bit, trying to calm myself down. It doesn't help.

I think about my strategy.

Grab whatever's in front of me at the Cornucopia, don't go farther than the backpacks. Get out of there quickly. Meet Peach and Perry. If any of us are delayed, go without the other. Find water. Find a tree to climb up. Don't draw attention to yourself. Once you know who's died the first day, go from there.

A voice announces it's time to prepare for launch.

I take one more big gulp of water. So big I almost choke, but I power through. Trembling, I make my way to the metal plate that will take me up into the Arena.

Zackar squeezes my hand, then lets go as the glass cylinder drops.

I wonder vaguely what would happen if I just stepped out now, let the plate go up without me. Or what would happen if I, say, dragged Zackar in here with me?

Strange thoughts. Stuff that nobody's ever done because they just want to live.

I finger at the hard lump on my arm where a man injected a tracker in me earlier. It hurts.

When the platform begins to rise, I really begin to panic. I'm in a tight, pitch black space.

My breathing quickens pace. When am I going to get out of this bit?

I count. One… two… three… four… five… six… a small beam of light appears at the top of the cylinder… seven… it's stretching farther down… eight… it's hitting my forehead… nine… it's stretching over my whole head, but I can't see… ten… it's over my whole torso, and my eyes are trying to adjust… eleven… and I'm out.

The light is still bright, too bright to make out anything but shapes.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the voice of Claudius Templesmith, the Games announcer, booms over the Arena "Let the Sixty-eighth Hunger Games begin!"

There's sixty seconds that we have to stand on the platform, but we don't have a timer. We just have to wait for the gong to sound.

So I start counting.

One… two… three… I see Perry, a few spots to the left of me… four… five… six… seven… we're in a field that reminds me of pictures I've seen of District 11... It's corn rows… eight… nine… ten… Peach is completely on the other side of the semi-circle… eleven… twelve… thirteen… there's a deep purple backpack about twenty yards from me… fourteen… fifteen… sixteen… seventeen… eighteen… nineteen-

BOOM!

I jump and almost lose my balance. Apparently someone stepped off their platform too early. If you do that, you get blown up.

The person was only one spot to my right. My ears are ringing and I feel dazed. I've lost my count.

I stance myself to run at anytime. I wait a few more seconds and I hear the gong.

I sprint for the backpack and reach it first, throwing it over my shoulder before anyone else has a chance to get it. I scramble quickly to my feet and begin to run towards the rows of corn, where I can see Peach waiting just behind the first layer of stalks-

Something hard hits me from behind.

I fall to the ground and turn over as quickly as I can.

Bubble's on top of me. I throw a good, hard punch at her face and she's bewildered for a few moments that allow me to throw her off balance. I try to get away, but she pulls at my hair and pins me down again, this time holding both my arms with one hand while she waves a knife tauntingly in front of my face.

"Those eyes of yours really are pretty," Bubble taunts. "Do you think you'll scream as much as your Mommy?"

I try my best to get away from her, but I just can't. It's hopeless. I'm going to get killed at the Cornucopia.

And then a beautiful thought hits me. I can see the small lump in Bubble's arm where her tracker was inserted. It's in the arm that's holding mine down.

I crane my neck and bite her arm as hard as I can, right at the spot where her tracker is.

The pain causes her arm to give out and she falls on top of me with no way to steady herself.

I roll her over and grab the hand holding the knife. I wrestle with her over it. She slaps me across the face, but I keep fighting. I spare a hand to press as hard on her face as possible, so she can't see. I reach down and bite her hand. She finally loosens her grip enough for me to grab the knife and I immediately stab it into her windpipe. Followed by her chest. Then her chest again.

I wipe the blade on her shirt, grab her other knife out of her belt, and stick them both into mine.

And then I run. Fast.

When I hit the rows of corn, I know that Peach and Perry will be long gone. It's okay. It was apart of our plan to run if one of the others couldn't make it in time. They probably think I'm dead.

I run until I'm completely out of breath, then stop a moment to catch it and inspect my body for any injuries. There's a nick on my wrist and one of my palm from the struggle over the knife. I inspect my face and when I pull away my hand it's covered in blood.

I panic for a moment before I realize that this is Bubble's blood. She coughed it on me when I stabbed her.

I shake myself and start forward again, using my jacket to wipe the blood off of my face.

Before too long, I come to the edge of the corn field. But now I'm in a grassland, going upwards slightly, so I need to keep going. I try to stick to the sparse trees, and walk until my legs are aching. Even then I keep going until I reach a stretch of fence.

I peer around. The word _farm_ registers. There's a giant, decrepit barn, a dangerously old wooden house, a few scattered trees, a fence surrounding the whole property, and a stream!

Grinning to myself, I climb the fence and run to a spot in the stream concealed by a large willow tree, all ache in my legs forgotten. I'm not planning on drinking right away, but I rinse all of Bubble's blood off my face.

I examine the contents of my backpack. A water bottle, some iodine, a spool of fishing line, a small knife, some sunglasses, a blanket, a rope and a package of beef strips.

Pleased with this, I tuck my third knife into my belt and pull out the water bottle and iodine to get some water.

I put on the sunglasses, only to find that they're completely useless. They make it harder to see.

Bewildered by this, I tuck the glasses back into the backpack, wondering what's wrong with the Capitol.

While I wait for the water to purify, I start walking upstream, interested in how far the stream goes. It seems to get much narrower the farther I go, and by the time I reach a clump of woods not ten minutes later, it branches out into a few trickling mini-streams.

I walk back to my spot with the willow, intending to follow the stream downriver to see where it ends up.

First, I take a break, waiting the last ten-ish minutes for my water to finish, then drink it greedily.

I've already drank a lot today, but everything counts. After finishing the bottle, I fill it up again and before setting out on my journey, I go to check out the decrepit old house.

Glancing inside, I see that it consists of two rooms. I glance around cautiously before carefully setting foot inside. There's a loud, ominous creak. Someone heavier would break through the floorboards.

I grin to myself and carefully make my way to the other room. I could sleep in here. The Careers would never make it past the porch even if they did suspect someone would make their camp in here- in which case I would hear them and be able to arm myself.

I walk carefully around both rooms, figuring out where it creaks loudest so I would know not to step there. I find a spot in the second room where it hardly creaks at all and decide that that's where I'll sleep. I put my blanket there, because frankly, it's too heavy to lug around in my backpack all day.

Satisfied with this, I cautiously make my way out of the old house and set on my journey downstream.

After a half hour or so of walking, in which I pass through a small section of thin woods, I find myself at a lake in a clearing.

I turn and start walking again, making a mental map for myself. So far, I know the length of the stream, the lake, my farm, and a bit of the corn field.

I scan the trees, looking for any sign of Peach and Perry. However, after an hour or so of searching, I can't find either of them, so I admit defeat and head back to my house.

When I'm close to the edge of the woods, I hear a strange rustling noise.

I stop, look around. I don't see anything. Thinking that maybe it was just a bird I start walking again, only to hear the same noise, closer this time.

I take one of my knives out of my belt, ready to throw it if need be.

I hear the rustling noise again right before a cannon goes off.

Cursing to myself and listening for the rustling, I start counting the cannons. Each one symbolizes a dead tribute.

One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine…. Nine.

I hear a rustle again. I'm starting to get a bit freaked out now.

I glance around wildly, continuing towards the edge of the woods. The rustling is following me.

At some point, it turns into a kind of chase. I'm going as fast as I can, but the rustling just keeps following me.

I'm starting to panic and I can see the edge of the forest-

"Denim!"

I nearly jump out of my skin and throw my knife at the source of the noise, quickly drawing another.

I hear a male voice cursing quite colorfully and a female giggle from above me.

I look up at the agitated and amused faces of Peach and Perry.


	9. Plans

**Chapter 9:**

**Plans**

* * *

"Are you kidding me!" I hiss. "You scared me half to death, I thought a mutt was after me!"

"Sorry," Peach is still giggling. She grabs my knife and pulls it out of the tree. It had narrowly missed Perry's head. Peach drops out of the tree and dons a serious face. "We thought that Bubble killed you."

"I killed Bubble." I explain. "She took a bit too much time for irony and I got the knife out of her hand."

Peach nods as Perry drops out of the tree as well. He has a light green backpack slung over his shoulder. "Do you know for sure about any deaths?" I ask him.

"We know the girl from 9 is dead," says Peach "She was the one who blew up- she dropped her Token."

"I saw the boy from 3 take a spear," says Perry "And the girl from 6 got an arrow in the back."

"So… that's six people that we don't know about," I mutter. "And at least, there's still five Careers out there."

"On the bright side," says Peach "We're all still alive." Damn optomism. "You want your knife back?" she asks, holding out the knife. It's the best throwing one.

I take it and pull the other two out of my belt "You two can take either of these." I say. "I think you'll need it."

Peach takes the longer one and Perry takes the small one.

"Do you have a camp?" asks Perry.

I nod. "I found this old house to sleep in. It sounds bad, but the floors are so old that if the Careers came through, they would break through."

"Seems better than a tree," mutters Peach. I nod and we start walking out of the woods toward my farm, following the stream.

"So what did you get at the Cornucopia?" I ask.

"An extra pair of socks," says Peach "And some bread."

We had decided near the end of training that Peach shouldn't risk it in the bloodbath. Even if I'm smaller than her, she's about as strong as a blade of grass.

"What's in the pack?" I ask Perry as the barn comes into sight.

"Some dried fruit, a sleeping bag, a full flask, a dart gun, some wire, a bandage, an extra jacket, and some fishing hooks." he answers.

I grin. "I have some fishing line." I respond. "I bet there's fish in that lake. There are decent enough sticks in this woods to make some poles. And I can use that wire to set some snares. I also have a blanket, some rope, some beef strips, a water bottle, iodine, and these weird sunglasses that just make it harder to see."

Peach and Perry stop, glance at each other, then both grin.

"Can we see them?" says Peach.

I nod, rummage through my pack, pull out the broken sunglasses, and hand them to Peach. She examines them, and then her grin gets wider. "These are for seeing in the dark." she tells me "We use them in the orchards during harvest, for people who go up in the trees high enough that the light from the torches doesn't reach. These are really useful." She hands them back to me.

"No, you guys should carry them," I say "You'll be the ones flying through the trees in the middle of the night, not me."

By this time we've reached the house. "Home sweet home," I tell them as we step up the porch. "Be careful," I advise "The second room is pretty sturdy, but I don't know if the floorboards in this room'll hold us all."

I step forward and the floor creaks. Perry steps in behind me and there's another creak, louder this time. Peach follows and there's another, even louder creak, but everything seems to be fine.

We get to the second room and Perry lays out the sleeping bag with my blanket. "We'll take the sleeping bag and you have the blanket?" says Perry. I nod.

We all sit down and look through our packs again. We eat some of the beef and fruit and drink some more water.

"So about food," I say "I can set some snares. We could make some fishing poles tomorrow. We have matches to make a fire and a knife to skin stuff with. And then there's all that corn that we ran through-"

Peach shakes her head. "We already checked it. It's definitely not… normal corn. I think they might've poisoned it."

As if on cue, we hear another cannon.

"Ten down," I say "Eleven out to get us."

"Thirteen if we count each other." mumbles Perry, making little marks in the wood with the knife I've given him.

"Let's hope it never comes to that, then," I say. We all glance at each other, knowing what those words mean. _Let's hope two of us die before the finale so we don't have to kill each other._

Awesome.

I lean back on my blanket, feeling disgusted with the situation. Considering everything, we're doing really good. We have water, fire, shelter, blankets, immediate food, a plan to get more food, weapons, and the knowledge that the corn is poisonous.

"It's getting dark," says Peach, breaking the awkward silence. "We'll find out who's dead soon."

I nod. "Want to go out to the porch?" I ask. Peach and Perry shrug.

We go out to the porch and wait for night to completely fall. Once dusk comes, the Capitol seal is in the sky and the anthem plays. In a moment, we'll get a headshot of all the dead tributes along with their District number, probably to make it easier for us to categorize them in our heads.

When the anthem stops, the sky goes dark for a few moments before Bubble's face appears in the sky along with 1. Next comes the boy from 3, the girl from 5, both from 6 and 9. The boy from 10, and then both from 12.

Somehow I'm mad that Moore isn't dead. That just leaves more for me to face later.

"That's all the Careers but Bubble left," says Perry "The girl from 3, the couple from 7, you and Moore, the girl from 10, the boy from 5, and me and Peach."

Somehow, having it condensed down to one sentence makes the task before me seem far less daunting. But there's the fact that there's still five Careers left.

"Let's go back inside and come up with a plan." I say. We do that, sitting back down on the sleeping bag and blanket. Peach lays down with her head in her cousin's lap. He absentmindedly twirls her curly hair while he watches me.

"Where do you think the Careers will camp out?" I ask.

"There's not much room for them other than the lake or the Cornucopia," says Perry. "Peach and I scoped a lot out before we found you, it looks like the corn field is near the end with the woods wrapping around, and this grassy area is most of the Arena. It's not like Careers to camp out in the open unless they have something that they're familiar with right there."

"They'll probably stay in the corn field." I say "It would be too much work to move all of their supplies to the lake."

"The deaf girl will want to stay somewhere with good visibility," says Peach. "So she doesn't miss anything."

"7'll be hiding somewhere," says Perry "The girl has a big target on her back- she has two people fighting to get her out. I heard the Careers talking about how if she made it past the bloodbath they'd want her out right away. If they're hunting for her, I don't think we need to worry much about 7."

"Where would Moore go?" asks Peach.

"Probably the woods if he finds a tree strong enough to hold him or a cave or something," I say "Otherwise, he'd probably be in a barn or something, or he might just roam around. I can't really say, I don't know him too well."

"What about the girl from 10 and the boy from 5?" asks Perry.

Peach and I shrug.

Peach suddenly sits up, reaching for Perry's pack. "I want to do some scouting," she says, rummaging through for the night vision glasses.

"What, no!" says Perry, looking alarmed.

"Relax," giggles Peach "I'll stick to the trees Careers can't climb."

"And what if the boy from 1 finds you, huh?" says Perry "He shoots bow and arrow! And have you seen the way he's been looking at you, Denim, and the girl from 3! He'd probably-" he suddenly stops. Even though I can't see him too well, I figure his face is turning red.

"I'll take her to the tree line." I say. "I have my knives. She can take the rope, the bottle, and the extra socks- it's not cold out- she can scout around and sleep in a tree when she gets tired. I'll meet her at the same spot at dawn."

Peach flashes a grin at Perry. "See?" she says condescendingly "I'll be fine. And I'll be able to see the Careers coming- besides, they're so loud they wouldn't hear me in the tree anyway."

Perry mutters something unintelligible under his breath before saying "Fine!"

"I'll be back in a bit." I say, looking through my bag for the rope while Peach looks for her extra socks. Once we're prepared, I slip on the night vision goggles.

"Oh, cool!" I squeal. I can see everything in perfect clarity, right down to the little marks Perry made in the wood earlier.

I grab Peach's hand and we make our way out of the house.

As we walk along the creek, I look around at everything. I can't see anybody, or any animals.

When we make it to the tree line, I say "Dawn, alright?"

Peach nods and takes the glasses. "I'll be fine," she says "Don't worry. I'm just scouting. I won't leave the trees."

She takes the rope from me and ties it around her waist before taking the water bottle. Then she scales the first large tree in sight. I watch in awe as she disappears into the blackness before I hear the distinct rustling of her jumping from tree to tree.

I shake my head in amazement and wait for the sounds to fade away before I head back to the house.

As horrible as it makes me feel, a small part of me hopes that Peach will be killed tonight.

It would make it easier later. Peach is so sweet and innocent. It would be easier to kill Perry than Peach if it came down to that.

But still, it's just the first night. There's plenty of time for Peach to get killed later.

Now I feel awful, because however much I want her to live, I want a little girl to die. So I can win.

I hate this.

I start walking again, trying to focus on the upside.

I have an alliance. I have weapons. I have supplies. I've already killed a Career so I probably have sponsors.

I killed a Career.

I killed a person. An eighteen-year-old person. A kid.

Despite the fact that it was only out of self-defense, it's starting to bother me. It makes me feel… I don't know. I guess… _dirty_. Somehow. Like I've done something horrible. Of course it's not horrible, because I did it to save myself.

But I suppose I could justify killing Peach and Perry in their sleep with that same argument.

Have I mentioned that I hate this?

I've just reached my willow tree when I hear a sharp _thunk _sound.

Suddenly, I fall hard to the ground and all I can properly register is that I've hit my head against the tree and there is an awful pain in my left hand.

I groan quietly in pain and grab my left hand with my right, trying to figure out what had happened, which is hard because I'm underneath the willow and hardly any moonlight is getting through. But after feeling around a bit, I know that my hand is bleeding. Really bad.

And then I figure out why. I only have four fingers on it. My pinky is missing.

There's no way that happened from just tripping over a rock.

I quickly reach for my knife, but not before someone jumps on my back and pins me to the ground.

"Well, look what we have here," I male voice whispers, his mouth right next to my ear. "I thought I saw someone moving, but this is just a treat."

It's Luxe.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Now I'm just comfused... someone has actually favorited this story yet there are no reviews... I don't think I've seen that happen before...


	10. Luxe

**Author's Note:**

Yay! First review... which is funny because it's a reply to a random little author's note from last chapter!

Quick disclaimer, this chapter is violent and slightly disturbing and you may find yourself being mad at me. I've tried to keep all of the injury stuff as realistic as possible by extensively questioning my relatives in the medical field. (AKA my mother).

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 10:**

**Luxe**

* * *

Oh no! No, no, no, no, no! Any other Career! Not this guy!

Moore's said it, Perry's said it, and I've seen the way he looks at me and Peach.

I try to get up, but I'm dizzy, in pain, and laying on my stomach.

"I think I'll probably cut your eyes out," Luxe whispers "It was all Bubble ever talked about, and well, I think it'd be a great ode to her memory? Don't you think? Especially since you're the one that killed her."

I try to reach for my knife, but Luxe grabs both my hands, pins them to my sides and sits his feet on them.

"But first, sweet Denim, we should have some fun." Luxe continues. I feel one of his hand flitting around the waistband of pants. He's trying to tease me. He's trying to make me afraid.

It's working.

When he actually reaches into my pants, I start screaming.

"PERRY!" I scream "PER-" Luxe slams my head into the ground, making my head hurt too bad to form words. Even if Perry heard me the first time, if he looks out, the willow is too far away and too hidden for him to see me. He'll think he just imagined it.

Suddenly, I'm looking into Luxe's face and he's slapping me. I must have passed out from the pain.

I can feel something creeping along my hairline. Probably blood.

"Come on, Denim," whispers Luxe "Surely someone as _tough_-" he spits out the word with disdain as though he can't believe that a little girl could be tough"-as you wouldn't pass out from pain?"

I try to look away from him. I don't like the look in his eyes. It's animalistic… predatory. It reminds me of some of the boys from the community home…

_"Stop following me," I mutter as I turn a corner. I glance back at the boy following me. I forget his name. I don't like talking to anyone other than Rosie._

_The boy shrugs instead of responding._

_He has a weird look in his eye. I've never really seen it before. It's intense. It's scary. I don't like it and it's starting to freak me out._

_I start walking down the hall again, trying to get to the bathroom. The boy is still behind me. I start walking faster and then I feel a hand on my shoulder-_

"C'mon, Denim," Luxe whispers "Don't pass out on me again." he smiles at me. A sick, twisted, leering smile that's designed just to make me even more terrified than I already am. "And that boy from 11? How do you know I haven't gotten to him?"

This thought horrifies me for a few seconds before I realize that Perry can't possibly be dead.

"Ca…" I whisper feebly.

"What's that?" he taunts.

"Cannon…" I whisper.

He grins. "Still got your wits about you, eh? Oh well. I'm sure he's around here somewhere, and that little girl, too. In the barn or the house. So much fun I'll have tonight when I'm done with you…"

Now I've doomed Perry. But at least if I've as good as killed him Peach is out there. If I'm not at the tree line, she'll know something's wrong. Maybe she'll even get some of our supplies. What we have would probably seem too petty to take to a Career. And even if she doesn't, she has the rope, the knife, the water bottle and the extra socks…

I can feel Luxe reaching down for my pants again. This time he actually unzips them and starts sliding them down my legs-

"Stop!" I scream, struggling as much as I can.

"Oh, come on, Denim," whispers the boy, throwing my pants to the ground and reaching for my underwear "We're gonna have some fun,"

No. I am not letting this happen again.

I take a deep breath, trying to focus clearly. Luxe is looking at my face, trying to watch my expression with that sick, twisted smile on his face as he brushes his fingers along my bare inner thigh.

He's not looking anywhere else but my face.

So despite how I normally react, I let a tear escape, just to give him something to look at while I reach for my knife. When he undid my belt, it fell to the ground. My knife is an inch away from my fingers.

Idiot.

I grasp the knife carefully and arc my arm up, stabbing him sharply in the side.

He lets out an "Oof!" and falls half-on-top of me, reaching for his own knife. Before he can I stab his wrist.

He yells out in pain and I use his weakness to flip us over so I'm now sitting on top of him and then I stab my knife into his chest as hard as I can, over an over and over and over again.

I vaguely hear his cannon go off, but I just keep stabbing. Over and over and over again. I'm letting out all of my pent-up emotions and sense of injustice by killing this boy. This pig. This pathetic excuse for a human being. Someone who had no business being alive in the first place.

"Denim…"

I freeze. My knife is currently inside of Luxe's chest. And it's a good thing, too, because if it hadn't been it probably would've gone straight through Perry's head.

"What happened?" he whispers, taking a cautious step towards me.

I don't look at him. It's obvious what happened, and I don't want anybody to see me like this. Despite the fact that I know the entire nation is probably on the very edge of their seats in anticipation, watching what will unfold in this horrible, violent, emotional moment.

"I… I think… that's… obvious…" I whisper, pulling the knife out of Luxe's body.

Perry kneels down next to me and carefully pries the knife out of my hands.

"You're covered in blood," he whispers.

"It's not all his." I whisper back.

"I think you should get away from his body, Denim." says Perry softly. I hesitate a moment, then nod, and let Perry help me up. We walk out from under the willow. When the moonlight hits me, Perry's eyes widen.

"Denim, your hand!" he gasps.

"I know," I mutter.

"No, you- we need to do something or you might bleed out!" hisses Perry, looking terrified. I shrug. "I- put pressure on it, I'll be right back!"

I hold my right hand over my still-bleeding wound while Perry runs inside the house. I glance back towards the willow. Luxe's pack, bow, and arrows lay abandoned a few feet away from the sweeping leaves. We'll have time to examine those later, I suppose.

Perry comes running back out with something in his hands. I see that one is the bandage he said he had and the other…

"No," I say quietly "No, no, no!"

"Just close your eyes," whispers Perry, pulling a match out of the little pack and lighting it.

I shake my head. "People… lose fingers… all the time! You don't need to- burn the wound… or whatever- I'll be fine!"

"You're too small," said Perry "And you're already getting light-headed, I can tell just by looking at you. Just close your eyes and let me do it, I've seen it be done before. It'll be over before you know it."

I shake my head, then suddenly grow very dizzy and sit down.

"Denim…"

"Fine." I whisper, holding out my hand. Perry takes my hand gently and I hiss under my breath. My whole hand hurts. It hurts even worse when I feel the fire against the wound. I try to count, but I'm getting too dizzy.

At some point, I can feel the flame being moved away, but the fiery stinging remains.

"It hurts," I whisper.

"I know," whispers Perry, wrapping his arms around me. He half-carries me back to the house. I can see stars now. I try to focus on the creaking floorboards as we move, but I just can't seem to.

"Now sit down," says Perry. I sit down and feel the cushion of the sleeping bag under me. "Take off your jacket, it's covered in blood."

I nod and unzip my jacket, sliding it off my arms. I shiver slightly as I lay down and curl up. I realize that I still don't have my pants.

I feel the blanket cover me and I try not to think about the now dulling pain. Perry gently takes my hand and I can feel him wrapping the bandage around it. I hear a ripping sound and the dribble of water, and then Perry's wiping a wet cloth over my face.

"My jacket…" I whisper.

"It's alright, we have an extra," he whispers back. "Just try to go to sleep, you'll feel better in the morning when the pain's gone and your heart's pumped some more blood into you."

I nod and close my eyes as Perry continues to wipe the blood off of my face.

"We'll clean your hand up more tomorrow," he whispers. I nod again. "Drink some water," he adds, placing his flask in my right hand. I bring it to my mouth and take a few sips while he strokes my hair soothingly.

I've killed two people now.

Granted, one of them I really don't consider a person anymore. But still, there's that horrible, twisted feeling deep in the pit of my stomach. I don't even know what's right anymore.

I can hear a hovercraft now, coming to take away Luxe's body. Usually, all people have to be far away, but they either don't care because we're indoors or they're making an exception.

I'm sure every eye in the Capitol has been on me for the last half hour.

Considering that, I'm adding the observation of this highly personal moment to my list of grievances. Or maybe I should just call it the list of things I hate with every fiber of my being.

I wonder if this moment is counting for or against me in the eyes of the Capitol?

Sure, I'm currently wounded and dizzy and basically unable to care for myself, but I did just kill a boy in that very same state- while my hand was still bleeding.

Well, I suppose I wasn't as dizzy then.

But still, it's something.

I wonder if Peach is okay? I mean, I suppose I would've heard a cannon if she was dead? But what if she's running? Or captured? I wish I had sided with Perry and told her not to go. I wouldn't be worrying as much and I wouldn't be injured.

But I suppose Luxe wouldn't be dead, either.

If I think on the positive side, this is another Career down. Less threats to worry about.

But thinking about it from the human aspect, I hate myself. However much he deserved it, however much I had to do it to survive, he was still a person. I killed a person. I ended his life. He'll never breathe or talk to anybody again. He has a family. He has people that thought he would win and wanted him to come back home.

I really shouldn't let myself think about things. It only ever makes me think worse of people. Worse of everything, honestly.

"Try to sleep," Perry whispers again. "I promise that you'll feel better when you wake up."

"I… think… you're lying…" I whisper back.

I hear Perry chuckle as he lays down next to me, moving the blanket so it's covering both of us. I cuddle closer to him and lay my head on his shoulder like I did with Moore…

Last night. Just last night. It feels like a lifetime ago.

Perry hesitates a moment before he starts stroking my hair again.

I'm starting to feel a bit sick from that feeling of guilt in my stomach. I wonder how long it's going to eat at me? Until the day that I die? Possibly. Chances are that day isn't too far off.

But if I live past these Games… how long will it last? Will I have to go through it every day? Or will I turn to alcohol or drugs? Or in Finnick Odair's case, sex?

I don't know. I don't want to know.

For the first time in my life, I find myself wishing to be dead.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Review, review, review!


	11. Life

**Author's Note:**

There must've been some glitch when I posted the last chapter. It never got onto the list of updated stories! Anyway, here's Chapter 11.

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

**Life**

* * *

_"Denim!" calls Peach from her spot perched at the top of the tree. "Come get me!"_

_"You know I can't climb up there!" I call back, laughing._

_"Sure you can!" Peach calls back. "Look! Rosemary can!"_

_I laugh as I watch my sister, smiling broadly at she climbs up the tree to catch Peach._

_But then I remember that Rosemary can't climb either._

_Suddenly, she falls out of the tree and lands with a loud crack._

_I scream, trying to get to her as Luxe nears my sister, but someone's holding me back. "Stop, Denim!" yells Perry's voice in my ear. "You can't save her! Denim!-_

"Denim!"

I sit straight up, gasping for breath. I let out a moan and hold back tears. My head is pounding, my hand is throbbing, and on top of everything else, I'm nauseous.

I lean into Perry's chest. Obviously he's been trying to wake me up from my nightmare.

"I'm going to get Peach," he tells me. "It's almost dawn."

"I want to go with you," I whisper.

"Denim-"

"I don't want to be alone again." I whisper "I don't want something to happen to you… or me…"

"Alright."

He leans back and examines my face. "I got your pants," he tells me "And the new jacket."

I nod and reach over a few feet for the two pieces of clothing. I try to avoid using my left hand. No matter how I move my fingers it still pretty much hurts the same, it's just hard to move them.

"How are you feeling?"

"Nauseous," I reply bitterly, still blinking back tears caused by the amount of pain in my hand. "And I have a headache."

"Your hand?"

"It hurts like hell." I reply. "But I'll be alright." I unwrap the bandage and look at my hand. Obviously it's not very pretty, but it doesn't look like it's going to get infected. At the very least, I can't see any sign of infection at the current moment.

I try to wrap my hand again, but I can't, so I ask Perry to.

I have to bite my lip to keep from crying out as he does so, but I manage to hold it in.

"I also got Luxe's pack," says Perry as I throw mine over my shoulder "And his bow and arrows. We can give the pack to Peach so she'll be able to carry stuff. I'll keep the bow. And he had this knife belt thing I thought you'd like…"

He holds out the belt to me. There's no knives in it right now, but it has a bunch of knife blade-sized pockets around it. Eight in all. There's a few blood stains on it.

"Thanks," I respond, taking it from him and wrapping it around my waist. I end up having to use a knife to poke in a new hole because my waist is so small, but I manage.

Perry had apparently washed off my own knife, so plus the knives Luxe had with him I now have five.

"Ready to go?" asks Perry. I nod.

We leave the house. It's that time of day when you can see the pink and red and orange on the horizon but the sun isn't up yet.

Before we start walking, Perry aims his new bow at a small tree. He was alright at bow and arrow during training. He aims and fires, and misses the trunk by a few inches. He fires again, and this time scrapes some bark off the trunk, but the arrow doesn't stick.

I throw a knife and it hits, but as a result of my pain, my aim is pretty off.

Perry and I retrieve the arrows and the knife, then we set off along the stream.

We don't encounter any problems other than me having to stop to catch my breath. Well, I make the excuse of catching my breath. Really, my head and hand hurt too much and I feel like I'm going to throw up.

When we get to the tree line, the sun is already up, though it hasn't been for very long.

"Hey," says Peach's voice before she drops out of the tree in front of us. She examines us. My bandaged hand, the knife belt, the bow and arrows, the extra pack. "What happened?"

"Luxe." I mutter bitterly.

"Was he the cannon last night?" asks Peach. We nod. She smiles. "That's good," she says. Then she frowns and hugs us both. "I was afraid it was one of you." she whispers.

"So what did you find out?" I ask when she releases us. She takes the pack from Perry and puts her stuff inside.

"The Careers are still at the Cornucopia," says Peach as she slings the pack over her shoulder and we start walking. "They've cut a path through the corn that comes out at this side of the field, about fifty yards from the tree line.

"Pine and Silva-"

"Who?" says Perry distractedly.

"The kids from 7." I say, rolling my eyes.

_"Pine and Silva,"_ says Peach, eyeing us severely "Are in a house in the woods. They have enough supplies for now, but if they last more than a few days, they're going to be in trouble, so we may see them out and about sometime soon."

"Do they have any weapons?" I ask.

"I think they have a knife or two," says Peach "But nothing crazy."

"Did you see Moore?" I ask.

"Yeah…" says Peach cautiously.

"What?" I ask, trying to hide any concern I may have "Is he hurt?"

"No," says Peach "But he's with Telly."

"Telly?" ask Perry and I.

Peach sighs exasperatedly and rolls her eyes. "The deaf girl from 3." she explains as if we're toddlers. "They're in a barn on the far side of the field." she tells us "I think they're building something, or setting some sort of trap, but I can't tell."

"Moore's really good with snares," I say "And 3 is technology. So I'm gonna take a wild guess and say whatever they're building isn't exactly _safe_."

"I have to agree," mutters Perry.

"The girl from 10 and the boy from 5?" I ask.

"I don't really know about them," says Peach "I think they're probably in the woods on the side without the lake- there are low mountains over there. Or they might be on the other side of the corn- I'm not sure exactly what's over there."

"Well, this is still pretty good." I say. "If the Careers only planned one way out of the corn field, we can spy on them pretty easily."

There are no cannons the rest of the second day. Peach goes out to do a bit more scouting while Perry and I set some snares. We set them in the mountain strip of woods, both in agreement that the Careers will be less likely to go there.

All that Luxe had in his pack was another water bottle, some dried beef strips, and two apples. While it isn't much, it's still food, and now in addition to a pack we all have a water bottle.

Perry and I return to our house for lunch. We eat one of the apples and Luxe's dried beef, discussing strategy. So far, no bursts of inspiration have hit us in regard to some major plan of sabotage or attack. For now, that's fine with me. We have food, water, shelter, and weapons. That's good with me.

After lunch, Perry takes a nap. He didn't get much sleep last night because he was too busy fussing over me.

I spend the time doing a bit of rationing, re-filling the water bottles, and cleaning my hand, which still hurts like hell.

Peach returns a little after Perry wakes up, informing us that the Careers are mostly re-grouping. They still don't know where Luxe is, but they don't think the cannon belonged to him.

"Their supplies are arranged inside the Cornucopia." Peach explains "They've sorted them by food, weapons, and survival, and they all have a personal backpack for when they're traveling. They're planning on hunting tonight after they find out who the cannon last night belonged to."

This gives us enough time to go back and check the snares. I'm pleased with our catch- a squirrel and a rabbit. Perry's just impressed that the snares actually worked.

When we're done, I say that we should set a human-sized snare on the lake side of the woods. Peach and Perry both look solemn as they agree to it.

We set it near the entrance to the Careers' path, hoping to snag one of them. We don't think we'd be able to keep them trapped, but we hope to injure one.

"How's your hand feeling?" asks Peach as we walk back to our house.

"Still hurts like hell," I reply "And it's a bit swollen."

"And everything else?" asks Perry.

"I still feel a bit nauseous, and I still have a headache." I reply honestly "But it's better."

When we get back to the house, we cook the rabbit the squirrel. Perry is apparently familiar with skinning things even if I'm not.

"Sometimes at home," he tells me "We get these birds called grooslings that'll sometimes come over the fence. They're delicious,"

Peach closes her eyes and makes an involuntary groaning sound just thinking of the birds. "I think I saw a flock while I was scouting last night," she says wistfully. "Perry and I usually share half a leg."

I grin. "Well, if we catch one you can have a leg all to yourself." I tell her. She opens her eyes and smiles back at me. "They're really stupid." she says 'If you see one, just throw your knife at it. They kind of look like turkeys."

I nod and turn my attention back to spitting the rabbit and squirrel.

After a satisfying meal of meat, dried fruit, and the other apple, Perry tells us that we can sleep and he'll keep watch. He's not tired after his nap.

We nod and wait for the Capitol message. Peach ends up falling asleep before it even comes. She's barely slept over the last day and a half.

After I see Luxe's face in the sky, I give Perry the blanket and the night vision glasses and tell him to wake me if he sees anything. I snuggle up with Peach in the sleeping bag and quickly fall asleep.

* * *

The next day passes much the same. Sleeping, catching, spying, eating. We find that the snare near the entrance to the corn field has been set off, and there's a bit of blood on it, which means that we've at least given one of the Careers something to be concerned about.

We catch another squirrel and Peach finds a bush of some black berries that stain my fingers and can't seem to decide if they want to be sour or sweet.

We've decided that Perry will be on the night watch, so he's taking a nap in the middle of the day while I'm sitting at my stream, dipping my feet in the water and waiting for two bottles of water to purify. Peach has gone to collect some more of the blackberries, promising to be back before Perry wakes up.

My eyes are half-closed and I'm humming a tune to myself. I'm surprised that I can actually enjoy myself while in the Games, but in all honesty, this is nice. The day is warm and sunny and the stream is cool, the grass is soft. I'm well fed and watered, I have two allies that I actually like, and I have five knives to throw.

Then I see something in the sky. It's odd. Shimmering. My eyes immediately snap open and I jump up, grabbing one of my knives. I'm prepared for the worst. Some sort of flying muttation, some bizarre weapon the Careers had in the Cornucopia. Then I realize that it's not going to hurt me at all. It's a parachute. A silver parachute.

I have a gift from a sponsor.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Reviews please!


	12. Alone

**Author's Note:**

Alright, now I'm just getting irritated. My last post didn't get onto the update list! Gah! Maybe this one won't either! Is anyone else having this problem? If so, could you send an email to the fanfiction people- I would myself, but I can't figure out how.

* * *

**Chapter 12:**

**Alone**

* * *

I grin and catch the parachute, immediately ripping open the box. The box is small, and weighs maybe a pound or two.

Inside, I find three things wrapped separately. In the one on top, I find a bottle of some pills with the words 'for pain' written on the side and a small tube of some sort of ointment.

I grin and immediately pop two pills in my mouth before I continue looking through the box. In the next bit of wrappings, I find two more knives. I grin and tuck them into my belt before I examine the last thing. It looks like glasses. I put them on and realize that these are most definitely for Peach. I can see far out into the distance. It zooms farther or closer depending on a little knob on the side, and if I push a button it switches to night vision.

We must have good sponsors. Tulle probably conferred with Peach and Perry's mentors, though, and it's only the third day.

I look at the wrappings that the gifts came in. We can use these to wrap meat in.

I unwrap my bandage to put the ointment on my hand. The pain is already starting to dull a bit from the pills, and my headache is almost gone. Got to love that Capitol medicine.

I squeeze a bit of the thick yellow stuff on my wound and let out a small moan. I make sure that all of the wounded area is well covered before I bandage it up again.

Grinning, I tuck the ointment and pills into my pack and run inside to tell Perry.

"Perry!" I whisper excitedly, shaking him awake.

"Huh?" says Perry, opening his eyes groggily.

"Perry! We got a gift from sponsors!" I say.

Perry sits up and looks at the box. "What was it?" he asks.

"Some cool glasses for Peach that can see far away, some medicine for me, and two more knives." I tell him.

Perry grins. "We have sponsors." he says happily.

I nod and hug him.

And then I hear it.

"PERRY!"

I whip my head around. That's Peach's voice. _"PERRY!"_

Perry and I jump up and rush out the door just as the cannon booms.

"NO!" I scream. I grab my knife and throw it at the person that I see. Whoever it is goes down and I throw another knife at the other figures that I see, but I'm so blinded by my anger and distress and they're too far. They run away and soon they're too far for me to hit.

Perry runs to the two bodies on the ground. "Peach!" he's yelling. I chase after him. Another cannon goes off just as we reach the bodies. Peach, her face locked in a terrified expression, is staring up at the sky with blank eyes. There's an enormous, bloody gash in her chest.

"Peach!" Perry's crying. His voice is unnaturally high-pitched and utterly heart-breaking. "Come on, Peach. Please! You promised we'd get through this together!"

He's sobbing now. I lean down next to him and brush my hand over Peach's face, closing her eyes.

"Perry, she's gone." I whisper.

"No, she can't be," sobs Perry.

"But she is," I whisper, trying to sound soothing. I don't know exactly how to be soothing unless I'm talking to a crazy person. But either way, I know I should probably be gentle right now.

I sigh when Perry doesn't respond. "Perry," I say apprehensively, "We need to move. The Careers know where we are now."

I glance up at the other body. It's the girl from 4. Three left.

"We're not leaving her," growls Perry "We have to help her!"

"We can't help her, Per-"

I get cut off when Perry slaps me. Hard, right across the face. I fall backwards onto the ground, my cheek stinging.

After I assure myself that Perry isn't watching me, I stand up and walk away.

Yes, I'm upset about Peach, too. She was a great little girl. If I couldn't win, I would've wanted her or Perry to.

But now… this is too much. If Perry is so emotionally wrecked by her death that he hits me, he's a liability.

I walk slowly back to the house, listening to Perry's sobs. Eventually, I can't hear them anymore.

I walk into the house and look through the supplies. I'm not even going to try to get Peach's backpack. Perry will likely stab me. She has the water flask, the rope, the extra socks, the night vision glasses, and probably some berries. She also has one of the knives, but I have knives, too.

I sigh. I'm leaving now.

I pick the bigger of the two remaining packs. It's mine, the purple one. I pack my medicine, the new glasses, one of the water bottles and the iodine, the sleeping bag, the remaining wire, the berries, and the squirrel.

I've left Perry the blanket, my old jacket, a full water bottle, some beef strips, the bow and arrows, and the fishing line and fishing hooks. Anything that Peach has, and… a dart gun. Perry still has that dart gun in his pack.

Just as I'm about to step out of the house, I decide to take the bow and arrows and the dart gun. This is the Hunger Games, after all. And Perry will still have a knife. He's lucky, really. I've left him a bit of food, water, means to get more food, and something for warmth.

I tuck the dart gun into my pack and sling the quiver and bow over my shoulder.

And then I start walking. I figure I'll go to the hilly side of the woods because that's where I've laid my snares. And Peach told us that there are houses in the woods, as well.

And that's it, then. I'm on my own.

It's me against ten other tributes now.

I'm up against Perry. Well, not really. He might be dead by the end of the day at the rate he's going. The Careers are going to go back to that spot eventually, and if Perry's still sobbing over Peach's dead body, he's going to be the next one.

But not me. I'm not going to get killed because of someone else.

I should've thought that alliance through beforehand, known that Peach and Perry were too close for their own good.

It's no matter now. The original point of the alliance was to help me tell the good plants from the bad. There's plenty of game in the forests and I can go another week or two without fruit.

But now I've killed three people.

Granted, I still think that all of them deserved it, but still. Three people. Three lives. Three lives that are over. Three mourning groups of family and friends.

No. What did I just say? I'm not going to lose over someone else. I'm not getting emotional because I killed three people who deserved to die.

I can drown my sorrows in a bottle later. Right now, I'm trying to survive.

I walk for awhile, making sure not to stray too far from the stream. When I hit the part that it branches off, I head for the area away from the cornfield. I think it's… east? Yeah… the sun sets near the cornfield, it rises over the field. That's it. I'm headed east.

Well, east-ish.

I follow the stream for at least an hour. It's getting thinner and thinner, but still enough that I can get water from it.

I pause for a bit to drink water and refill the bottle before straying form the stream, looking for a house.

When I hit he base of the hills, the stream is practically non-existent. So are the trees. The hills don't have any, and they're more rocks than hills. I see why Peach called them mountains.

I decide that a cave will work just as well as a house and I start to climb, looking for a suitable one.

I climb until I find a cave that's big enough for me sitting up, and has enough room for me to sleep without worrying about falling out. It has enough cover that no one will see me, even if this seems to be rather uncharted territory.

After dropping off a few supplies that are weighing down my backpack, I climb back down and set two snares near enough for me to reach easily in the morning but far enough so as not to arouse suspicion.

When I'm done with that, I head back to my cave and roast my squirrel. I eat most of it and some of the berries. I'll save the rest for breakfast.

I lay down and sigh.

Will the rest of the days be as relatively easy as they were with Peach and Perry? Maybe, maybe not. I don't have anyone to spy anymore, I don't have anyone to keep watch, and I don't have anyone to help if I'm injured.

Well, I don't need information, my shelter is hidden, and I just need to be more careful.

I'll be fine.

I wait for dusk and the Capitol anthem. I see the face of the girl from 4. I can't even remember her name.

I feel more guilt. I'll just check when I win. I'll find out her name.

After the girl, Peach comes up. I almost want to cry. Then it's over with.

I sigh and pull my medication out of my bag. I unwrap my bandage and apply the ointment to my healing hand. The wound already looks a hundred times better.

I wrap my hand again before taking another pain pill. I only have nine left, but with the rate that Capitol ointment works my hand will be better before I run out.

Maybe I can use the rest to drug some squirrels. I giggle to myself. That's the stupidest idea I've ever come up with.

I can imagine that if the Capitol audience is watching me right now they'll think I've started to crack up. Whatever, let them think what they want. The gamemakers wouldn't kill me unless I start to eat my victims.

I'll keep that in mind.

After I feel properly medicated, I pack up in case I need to move on short notice and then cuddle into my sleeping bag. It seems colder without Peach next to me.

Even with thoughts of Peach, I eventually succumb to sleep.

* * *

_"Denim?" says Peach "Why didn't you save me?"_

_She's standing there staring at me, a bloody wound in her chest, her eyes blind to the world as she talks to me._

_"I'm sorry," I whisper "I- I tried, really-"_

_"Sorry doesn't change anything. I'm dead." says Peach coldly._

_Then Bubble and Luxe and the girl from 4 are coming up behind her "And you actually killed us," says the girl from 4 in Rosemary's voice._

_Now I'm back home, in my apartment with Rosemary. I can see the back of her bright red head. We're in bed._

_"Rosie," I whisper even though I know she probably can't hear me "I had a terrible dream."_

_But she doesn't respond at all, and that's odd, so I sit up and shake her shoulder._

_Still, nothing._

_"Rosie…" I say, before turning her over._

_But it's not Rosie, it's Roane, and he's sobbing. But it's not man sobs, it's horrible, choked, desperate, hopeless, female sobs._

_"Roane-"_

I sit up, breathing hard, just as Roane's name leaves my lips.

I can't even remember what my nightmare was about, but obviously it was bad. I'm nearly on the verge of crying, and I'm actually sweating.

Then I hear it.

Sobbing.

My dream comes back to me and for a moment I think I'm imagining it, but then I can tell. They're real. Real sobs from a real girl.

Grabbing my knives, I cautiously crawl to the edge of the cave and look down. I can see the outline of a girl.

I think. Which girls are left?

Who's left at all? Three Careers- the boy from 2, Ruth, and the boy from 4. And somehow I doubt that it's Ruth crying. There's me and Perry. Pine and Silva. No… it can't be Silva, Pine wouldn't leave her and I didn't hear a cannon. Unless I missed it while I was asleep… it very well could be Silva.

Alright… there's also Moore and Telly, and the boy from 5 and the girl from 10.

That makes the only possible candidates Silva, Telly, or the girl from 10.

None of them are a threat to me. Well… that girl from 10 got a ten in training… but she dashed at the Cornucopia. She couldn't have gotten her hands on any weapons. And even if she did, I'm taking her by surprise. I'd kill her before she even knew who I was.

I decide to chance it, and cautiously crawl down my mountain-hill.

It's early in the morning. The sky has a faint purple glow to it, and in the east I can see tinges of pink and yellow.

When I get closer to the girl, I know that it's the girl from 10. She doesn't have any supplies. She's curled up in the fetal position, sobbing hopeless dry sobs.

Keeping a careful grip on my knife, I speak up. "Hello?"

The girl stops crying for the most part and opens her eyes, looking at me.

"Are… you alright?" Stupid question, I know. But what else am I supposed to say?

She shakes her head, looking at me desperately.

Then I realize. I'm her last hope. If I can't help her, she might be dead.

I crouch down and get a bit closer, putting my knife back in its place. "What do you need?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Review please!


	13. Mare

**Author's Note:**

So, someone pointed out that I wrote Effie at one point where Queenie's name should've been. Indeed, I did. I changed it, as well. I have to apologize.

I'm sorry. I couldn't come up with anyone other than an Effie-type for an escort and I sometimes get them mixed up in my head.

* * *

**Chapter 13:**

**Mare**

* * *

The girl's eyes widen in disbelief before she croaks out "Water,"

I nod and rush up to my cave to fetch my water bottle. When I come back down, her eyes are closed again. I crouch down and push it into her hands.

With some effort, she sits up and begins drinking greedy mouthfuls.

"Careful," I say "If you drink too much you'll get sick."

She looks at me with raised eyebrows. I shrug. "Once a man in my district went without food for a week before breaking into a shop and stealing some. They were going to hang him in front of everybody but he died before they could, because apparently the worst thing a starving person can do is gorge themselves."

The girl nods and takes a couple more sips before handing the bottle back to me.

"What's your name?" I ask her.

"Mare." she replies. "Yours starts with a D…"

"Denim." I answer. I purse my lips. This is ridiculous but… "What was your ten for?" I demand.

To her credit, the girl laughs. "Bow and arrow." she says "Didn't even know I was good at it until I came here. I might've gone for it at the Cornucopia but there was only one and I knew that that boy from 1 could shoot, too, so he'd be going after it."

I smile wryly. "I have it." I tell her.

"What?"

"I have the bow and arrows," I reply "I killed Luxe on the first night." I hold up my hand "Got a bit of a battle scar, but obviously it was worth it."

Mare eyes me suspiciously "What?" she says "You… want an alliance?"

"Sure," I shrug "Why not?"

Why not? There are about a million reasons why not! I don't know this girl, I just got out of an alliance, she could stab me in the back, _literally_, at any moment, and what does this girl have to offer me?

Mare takes hold of the tree and stands. She's a pretty girl. She has a kind face, long brown hair that I assume would be nicer before three days in the wilderness.

"Not to be rude or anything…" she says "But how do either of us know the other won't stab them in the back?"

I shrug. "I guess we'll just have to take a chance, won't we?"

Mare looks at me appraisingly before responding "Okay." She holds out a hand and I shake it.

"Right," I say, taking one of my knives out of its place and holding it out to her. "I need to check my snares. If we can get through this without you trying to kill me I might just let you have that bow."

Mare giggles a bit and takes the knife.

I start walking and she follows me at a slow pace, still dizzy from her dehydration.

"So I'll get to eat what we catch, right?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say.

"I thought about eating that corn the first day," she says "But just when I was about to I saw the boy from 12 get some. His face turned purple and he started clutching at his throat- I think it must've swelled his windpipe shut or something."

I'm happy now that I made that alliance with Peach and Perry. If I had decided to eat that corn I'd be dead right now.

"So what have you been up to other that starving and crying?" I ask Mare.

"Nothing," says Mare "Honestly, nothing. I was searching for water, obviously. I found the creek yesterday, but I couldn't drink the water because I didn't have anything to clean it. I found some berries yesterday and I took a chance- they appear not to have killed me, so I suppose they're safe."

I snort. Even if she's pretty much useless she might be good for lightening the mood.

"So what have you been up to?"

"Nothing much," I say airily "I've killed three Careers, almost got raped, lost my finger, lost one of my alliance members and then got slapped by the other- that's why I left."

"Those kids from 11 were in your alliance, right?"

"Yeah." I say "Peach and Perry."

"Peach died yesterday," says Mare softly.

I nod. "Perry kind of lost it. I probably should've killed him but I didn't have the heart."

We arrive at the first snare to find a rabbit. I take it and reset the snare before we move on to the other.

"Make yourself useful," I say, handing Mare the rabbit to carry. She nods and takes it.

"You seem to have the survival thing down pat," she notes "Most twelve-year-olds don't make it this far."

"I'm thirteen." I snap.

"Most thirteen-year-olds don't make it this far, either." Mare amends. "No… at your Reaping you were right in the front. Have you had your birthday since then?"

"My birthday's on Reaping Day." I tell her.

"Oh…" says Mare "Well… happy birthday."

I shrug. "Doesn't seem very happy to me." I reply.

We arrive at the next snare to find it empty. It's alright. A rabbit, a bit of a squirrel, and the rest of the berries will be fine for today.

We head back to my cave. "I'm gonna get my things," I tell her "No offence, but I don't really trust you to climb right now…"

Mare holds up her hands in surrender "I get it. Not offended." she says.

I nod and climb up to my cave, packing up all of my things before climbing back down.

Once back down, I fish out the matches, squirrel, and berries. "Here," I say, holding out the food. She looks at me in wonderment for a few seconds before taking the squirrel and most of the berries. I pop the rest of those into my mouth while she eats the rest of the squirrel with a big, sloppy grin on her face.

I make a small fire of mostly coals, not wanting to attract any attention with the smoke and skin the rabbit. I don't do as good a job as Perry, but it's still meat.

"Do you know how to do this?" I ask Mare.

She shakes her head. "I should, but I'm the mayor's kid. Didn't need to… well… I didn't think I would. Sorry."

I shake my head. "It's alright. I can do it, I just thought a kid from 10 would be able to do it better," I realize a second after I say it that that came out pretty harsh, but I find myself not caring enough to apologize.

As I spit the rabbit, I notice Mare eyeing the bow and arrows. "I wasn't lying," I say to her.

She smiles. "Yeah…" she says happily. She doesn't reach for the bow quite yet though. She probably knows that it could get her a knife in chest.

When the rabbit's done and we start eating, I tell her what I know about all of the other tributes. When I finish, she says "The boy from 5's sick. Real bad, too. I saw him yesterday. I think he got cut at the Cornucopia and it turned into an infection."

I nod "Guess we don't have to worry much about him, then." I say.

"Guess not," says Mare.

* * *

Nobody dies on day four. Mare and I spend most of the day talking. I'm down to seven pain pills now, but my hand is a lot better. I let Mare use the bow and arrows. She is good. But she definitely didn't realize it until she got Reaped.

We tell each other about home. She tells me about being the Mayor's kid. She's sixteen and only had five entries. She didn't think she'd ever get picked.

I tell her that life has a way of being unfair.

We sleep in my cave again. I like having someone next to me in the sleeping bag. Mare sleeps like a baby.

Personally, I've never understood that expression because babies don't seem to sleep like babies.

I wake up early to the sound of a cannon. I shake Mare.

"Whasamatter?" she mumbles groggily.

"I heard a cannon." I whisper back.

"M'okay." she mumbles, turning over and nuzzling into my thigh. I roll my eyes and decide I might as well go back to sleep. The only person still near us is the boy from 5, and if it was his cannon I doubt he was killed by a Career.

I lay down and rest my head on Mare's arm. I fall back asleep.

* * *

When I wake up again, Mare isn't there. It's midday, I think.

At first I'm concerned that she stole my supplies and ran for it, but looking around I find that only the bow and arrows are gone.

I sit up and stretch. Re-wrap my hand, take two more pain pills (five left now), then take the water bottle and iodine to go refill it.

I dip my feet in the water as I wait. It feels nice.

I decide to check my snares. We've caught another rabbit. On the way back to camp, I spot a weird-looking bird that reminds me of the grooslings Peach and Perry told me about.

I throw my knife and it goes down with a funny squawking sound.

I go back to camp and manage to re-light the embers of yesterday's fire. I should probably be more careful with those, I've seen forest fires rip apart arenas before.

Like it matters. If the gamemakers want a forest fire they'll make one themselves.

Halfway through cooking the rabbit and the groosling, Mare returns. She's used the parachute that my medicine came in to gather berries.

"These are the ones I ate the other day," she tells me, setting them down next to the fire and popping a few in her mouth.

"I ate these the other day, too." I reply, taking a few for myself to satiate the gnawing in my stomach. "Where'd you find them?"

"There's a big patch of vines a mile or so that way," she says, pointing to the way she came. "There's also this one bush with berries that look… different than the others. I figured I shouldn't touch it."

"Smart," I say. She nods. "Any ideas on that cannon last night?"

She shrugs. "I saw the boy from 5 again, he's passed out in the same place he was last time I saw him. I thought about killing him but…" she eyes her bow and turns a bit pink.

"I get it," I say. "But it would probably be kinder to kill him. He's in pain."

Mare shrugs, her face still red.

"Show me where he is later if you feel up to it," I say "I'll do it."

Mare nods and takes a berry, probably just for something to do.

When the rabbit and the groosling are done, we start eating. I'm amazed at how the groosling tastes. It's so greasy and delicious…

Boom.

There's another cannon. Mare and I look around, as though expecting to see a Career jump out at us.

Nothing of the sort.

"Who do you think that was?" I ask. Mare shrugs.

We eat the rest of our meal and repack our bag in case we have to move soon. I ask about the boy from 5 again, but Mare just shakes her head and says "Tomorrow."

* * *

We wait for the Capitol anthem to see who's died.

The first face is the boy from 2. I smile. Glad to see him gone.

I wait for a moment and then I let out a small whimper.

The other dead person is Moore.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Review!


	14. Poison

**Chapter 14:**

**Poison**

* * *

"Denim!"

I shake my head "No, no, no…"

"Denim, please look at me, _please_. It's going to be alright, I promise. Denim, please, _please_ look at me. It's alright!"

"No it's not…" I whisper.

"Yes, it _is_, Denim. _Look._"

I look up at Mare. "See, it's fine." she whispers, taking my face in her hands. "You're alright. You knew this had to happen eventually."

"It's not fair." I whisper.

"I know it's not fair," Mare says "None of this is fair. But right now, all we can focus on is us. We can stay alive. That's what we're going to do right now."

I don't answer.

Mare grabs my bag and rummages through it, then pulls out the pain pills. "Take three," she tells me, unscrewing the cap. "Enough pain pills can make you feel fuzzy. Take three and go to sleep. You'll feel better in the morning."

I nod and take the pills she hands me. I pop them in my mouth and swallow them. Only two left, but that doesn't matter. My hand doesn't hurt very much anymore.

I lay down in the sleeping bag. Mare repacks the pack and then slides in next to me, putting an arm over my shoulder. "See, you're fine." she says, smiling. I nod.

It takes awhile, but I manage to fall asleep.

* * *

When I wake up, Mare is gone again.

I sit up and look around. Bag is there. Bow and arrows are gone. Water bottle is gone. Silver parachute is gone.

Berries and water.

I unwrap my hand and examine it. It looks good. Only a bit of raw pink skin at the stub of my pinky. I decide that I can stop wearing the bandage. It's getting annoying and it's kind of dirty now.

I put a bit of ointment on the stub and then grab my knives. I climb out of the cave and walk around the forest, checking my snares. Just a squirrel today, but that's fine. We still have some of that groosling left.

When I get back to the cave, Mare is already back. She hands me the water bottle and while I take a drink she says "How are you?"

I shrug. "Fine," I tell her "It was probably shock or something stupid like that."

"That's good," says Mare. "Nine people left. They'll be interviewing our families soon."

I nod, laughing a bit to myself at the idea of them trying to interview Rosemary. "I'll be the boring one, then," I say "I have a crazy sister and no friends."

"What about that boy you mentioned during interviews?" Mare asks.

"You pay way too much attention," I scold her. She smiles and raises her eyebrows at me. I sigh "I don't know. It's complicated…"

"What's complicated about it?" Mare inquires.

I roll my eyes. I may as well tell now that Moore is dead "He's Moore's brother." I say. "Which means that if I win he'll probably hate me."

Mare nods "Complicated," she agrees.

"It's also weird because I never even thought about this stuff until last week," I add "I was just that girl with no name and dead parents who took care of her crazy sister and had half a friend."

Mare considers this for a few moments before saying simply "Life sucks."

I nod. "Yeah." I agree.

After roasting the squirrel and having a nice lunch, we decide to pack up and move. We've been here too long. There are too many tracks around here.

"Let's find that boy from 5," I say. "I'll give him the last two pills and then put him out of his misery."

Mare nods. "He's probably still in the same place," she says "I didn't see him today because I knew the way better, but I can still take you."

I nod and throw the pack over my shoulder while Mare balances an arrow on her finger. It's perfectly balanced, so I imagine she's just doing it out of boredom and a bit of guilt.

"Let's go, then," I say. She nods and starts leading me. After about ten minutes of walking, Mare stops and says "Remember that one berry bush I told you about?" she asks me.

"Erm… yeah…"

"Do you want to test them out?"

I gulp, feeling a little guilty as I respond "Yeah."

Mare turns a bit and starts leading again. After maybe twenty or so more minutes, we come to the patch of berries she told me about. I pick a few of the good berries while Mare takes some of the bad berries and wraps them up in the bandage I'm no longer wearing. The berries are a strange red color with a black part at the top. Honestly, I don't know why the gamemakers even put them in here. They just scream "Look at me! I'm poisonous!"

"Alright, let's go."

We start walking, and before long Mare stops us at the sight of a boy huddled under a tree. He looks to be half-asleep. The front of his shirt is covered in dried blood and he's covering himself with his jacket, shivering violently.

I sigh and take out the pills, unscrewing the cap. I shake the pills into my hand and lean down next to the boy. "Hey," I whisper, rubbing his shoulder gently. He opens his eyes groggily and jumps, fear etched all over his face.

"It's alright," I whisper. "Take these."

"Are they going to kill me?" he asks me almost hopefully. I shake my head. "They'll dull the pain and make you tired," I tell him "And when I'm sure you won't feel it I'm going to kill you, alright?"

It's a mark of how much misery that this boy is in that he nods and swallows the pills. I stroke some of the hair off of his sweaty face as his eyelids droop closed again.

"Let me see the berries," I say. Mare hands me the berries and I very carefully drop them into the boy's mouth. He's enough awake that he chews them slowly and swallows them. After a minute or so, I stand up so I'm next to Mare and just watch the boy. He seems to be asleep now, but I can see he's alive because his chest is still moving.

We watch him for another few minutes, and just when I'm thinking about pulling out one of my knives, the boy's body starts shaking violently. I stand quietly next to Mare while the boy has a seizure, and when he stops, I know he's dead. He's pale and he's not breathing.

A cannon goes off.

"Guess the berries work," says Mare.

"Guess so." I say.

Mare leans down next to the boy and picks up a water bottle, which seems to be the only supply he has. She unscrews it and puts the berries in. "We should wash our hands," she says "And don't you dare touch your face. I think that we should put some more berries in here, though. We might be able to poison the Careers' water supply."

I smile wryly. "You're more clever than I thought." I tell her. That's the first real plan that's developed while I've been here.

"Yeah, well," Mare shrugs and smiles shyly. We start walking, and she adds "I think we might be able to poison that dart gun you have, too. Dip the darts in the berry juice or something. Or maybe the corn. What do you think would happen if we put the corn _and _the berries in the Careers' water?"

"It wouldn't be pretty," I answer "And I wouldn't want to stick around to see it."

We walk back to the berry patch and Mare fills our bottle of poison to the brim. Then we go to the stream and wash our hands carefully in the water. We wait a good ten minutes before refilling our own water bottle.

After we're all set, we start heading south…ish.

We find ourselves another cave and set up camp. I set up snares. We're near a small pond, so we're fine on water even if we're far away from the main source of water for the Arena.

At night, we see the boy from 5's face in the sky. He looks a lot better in that simple headshot than he did when I last saw him.

Mare and I cuddle up in the sleeping bag, and I manage to fall asleep.

* * *

_"Now look what you've done…" says the boy from 5. His face I far above me, like I'm staring up at him. "You didn't even know my name and now you've killed me…"_

_"I helped you," I say desperately "You were suffering!"_

_"At least I was alive," he says. "And what about all those other people… you know who I'm talking about. The Careers, Peach, Moore, and Rosemary; your own sister."_

_"I didn't kill them!" I yell back. "And Rosie isn't dead!"_

_"Are you sure?" asks the boy from 5. Then I realize why his face is above me. Why I'm looking up at him. I'm in a hole in the ground._

_I'm in a grave._

_I look at the bodies below me. It's all of the dead tributes, staring up at me with their blank stares. But the body I'm sitting on it the most familiar._

_I let out a strangled cry at the sight of my sister's dead, mangled body._

_And I scream._

_I scream louder and louder, trying to claw myself out of the grave. I just need to get out of here, I don't care how, I can't stay here._

_I notice a knife in one of the dead tributes' belt, so I grab it and I'm about to slit my own throat-_

Someone's holding me down. They're holding a hand over my mouth and the other is holding me down by one of my arms.

I flail about, panicking and thinking the worst before I hear Mare hiss "Hush, someone near us just got killed!"

I calm down. She's holding my mouth. I must've been screaming.

"What happened?" I whisper when she lets me go.

"I couldn't sleep, so I stayed up." Mare explains "I heard a cannon, and when I went to the cave mouth to look, I saw someone's body being lifted into one of the hovercrafts- not that far away, either. Less than a mile!"

Less than a mile. Someone got killed less than a mile away. Which means the Careers could be here any minute.

I don't want to sit in this cave and wait for them. It would be better to leave now, because it would be almost impossible to climb down the cave while being attacked by Careers.

But there are only two of them… and two of us.

Interesting.

That's strange, not thinking of the Careers as such a big threat. When these Games started, they were all that scared me. But now, I'm just worried about what's happening in front of me, worrying about putting suffering kids out of their misery.

I get up. "Pack everything up," I tell Mare "Now. And quickly."

Mare nods and does as I say. I also find it strange that to some extent I'm in charge, even if Mare is clever enough to come up with that poisoning plan.

When we get everything in the pack, I throw it over my shoulder, fasten my knife belt, and hand Mare her bow and arrows.

"Get ready," I whisper "We're going hunting."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Review, or I'll sick some muttations on you... ;)


	15. Electricity

**Chapter 15:**

**Electricity**

* * *

"I'm not sure I could kill them if I saw them," Mare whispers to me. I'm walking through the woods in front of her. She has an arrow nocked ready to fire at anything that may attack us.

"You'd be surprised what you do when your life's in danger," I whisper back.

Mare doesn't respond, and we keep walking. "You sure it was this way?"

"Definitely." she responds. "It was near one of your snares, I think."

I nod. We're close to where I set the snare she's thinking of. Before too long, we're there. And it's odd, because my snare isn't right.

The wire's been all undone, and is now tied and hanging from a tree limb some six or seven feet off the ground. The bottom seems to have been cut crudely… but…

"Oh…" I whimper, realizing what's happened. "Mare, it's alright, we're not in danger."

"What do you mean?" asks Mare, not lowering her bow.

"It was Perry." I explain confidently. "He hung himself. He used one of my snares to hang himself."

"How do you know?" asks Mare curiously, lowering her bow but keeping the arrow in place.

"The way this is set up." I say "If someone found the snare and wanted to mess with it, they could've just cut it or taken the wire or something… but this was deliberately tied. The end is severed, like it was pulled apart. Like if a hovercraft was lifting up a body."

"But why Perry?"

"Ruth or 4 wouldn't do it," I explain "It wouldn't be Pine or Silva, because they're both alive, and as long as they're both alive they wouldn't kill themselves. And even if Moore's dead, I know that Telly had some sort of trap set up on the woods ont eh other side of the field. She wouldn't come over here and hang herself, it just doesn't make sense. Which means it's Perry."

Mare nods. "Seven left." she says.

"Seven left."

Six people to die before I go home. Six people. That's not so many, is it?

Well, the answer is yes. One is _so many_. Killing anyone is too much.

"I think that tomorrow we should get out of our neck of the woods," I say "We're the only ones over here now. We need to get back into the thick of things or the gamemakers will drive us there." Mare shrugs. And looks a bit scared. "A suicide is enough action to appease them for one night," I assure her. "We'll be fine. It's only a few hours until morning. We'll sleep some more and then we'll pack up and move."

Mare nods and we head back to our cave, silent all the way.

* * *

The next morning, Mare and I pack up and leave our cave, making our way to the field. Mare hasn't been out of the forest yet, so she's rather intrigued by the whole thing.

The stream and the pond have both dried out. They're probably trying to draw us to that lake on the other side. At the moment, that seems like our only option.

But until we run out of water, we're not going to focus on that.

We take a break inside of an old barn. We're a lot farther from the corn field than my first house with Peach and Perry. I can tell.

"Can I have the dart gun?" asks Mare "I want to dip the tips in the poison."

I nod and rummage through the pack for it. Mare is very careful dipping the tips of the darts, not wanting to get any of the juice from the berries on her own fingers. When we're done with that, we let the darts dry and then load them into the little gun. I keep the gun in one of my knife slots.

We decide to sleep in the barn and just take watch shifts throughout the night. We eat some of the berries, drink the last of the water, and wait for the death count.

Just as I suspected, I see Perry's face in the sky. It saddens me that he would end his own life as apposed to fighting for it.

Despite this, I still manage to fall asleep without much trouble.

Sometime throughout the night, Mare wakes me up and I take the next watch. As I sit in the mouth of the barn, I consider just killing her in her sleep. The audience would love it. But I'm not going to do that. I can't… it would be like killing Perry.

I don't even know why I care so much about this, though. At one time or another, our alliance is going to be over. Whether I kill her or someone else does. And if we make it to the final two, I'll _have _to kill her.

I hate this. I hate this so much.

* * *

When the sun rises, Mare and I decide that we'll have to go to the lake. There's no way around it. We need water.

We venture to the stream first, but it's still dry. So we follow it to what's hopefully still a water source.

Indeed, the lake is still there. It's a bit more muddy, and the water level is lower, but it's still a lake, and a lake is what we need. I fill up the water bottle and put in the iodine while Mare keeps watch. She has an arrow nocked, and she looks quite deadly.

After I'm done with the water bottle, we head back into the trees and wait the thirty-ish minutes for the water to purify. We decide to each drink half of it now, and then fill it up soon. We don't know when we'll be able to come back next. The Careers could decide to set up camp here.

As soon as we're done, we go back to the lake to refill again. I'm just dropping the iodine in when I hear a twig snap.

I jerk my head around and Mare aims her bow for the direction the sound came from. At the edge of the forest, I can see someone behind a tree. It's hard to tell, and they're obviously trying to hide… but about five feet off the ground I can see their hair blowing. Strawberry blonde.

"I see you, Mrs. Lovebird." I call.

Silva peeks cautiously around the tree. She has a few scratches on her pretty face, but other than that she looks completely unfazed by the whole Games.

Mare looks at me, shrugs and lowers her bow a bit to tell Silva we're not going to kill her.

Yet.

She steps out completely while I close the cap on my water bottle.

"Where's Mr. Lovebird?" I ask genially. She has her own water bottle, and comes forward to fill it up. Silva doesn't answer, just points across the lake at the patch of trees, where I suppose Pine is hiding.

I roll my eyes and watch her fill up the water bottle. "So how've you been?" I ask.

She shrugs. "Fine," she responds. Then she giggles "Doing lots of kissing, apparently the crowd loves it. And we're trying to get in twenty years-worth."

I snort. "Sounds like a great life you got going." I say "Mare and I have been sleeping in caves and putting sick people out of their misery."

"If it helps, I'm really, _really_ not sick." Silva responds. She drops some iodine into her water bottle and stands up. "Nice seeing you," she says, waving, and then making her way around the lake to her husband.

"That went well," I say to Mare, rolling my eyes as we make our way to the woods. And then I hear the noise.

It's like… a snap. Just quick, and weird. And then Silva screams. And I hear Pine yell _"SILVA!"_

I turn around quickly. Silva's twitching on the ground some twenty feet from where I stand. I can't figure out what's wrong until I notice a wire on the ground.

"PINE!" I screech. The boy/man (I'm not sure what I should call him) stops running. He was running full-out, trying to reach his wife. "There's electric wires on the ground!" I shout to him "Don't get any closer."

Boom.

Cannon.

Silva's out.

Pine collapses to the ground. Even from sixty yards away it's heart-breaking. He's crying and sobbing and yelling and cursing every being he can think of.

Perry losing Peach was one thing, but this is another. I remember in the tape of my parents' Games, my mother's reaction when my father was Reaped. It was awful.

But seeing this first-hand. It's something else. The sounds that I'm hearing are the sounds of someone who's lost the person that they love most in this world. The sound of someone who feels like they no longer have anything to live for. The sound of someone who's entire world just shattered into a million tiny pieces.

Some part of me wants to go and comfort him, but another part (the rational part) yells at me to stay the hell where I am and don't step on any wires.

I should just leave, right now. Leave with Mare and get out here. Don't even think about what just happened. Don't think about the fact that I just saw a girl getting electrocuted after talking with her. Don't think about that. Just walk away and don't look back.

But I can't. I feel stuck in this place, watching Pine sob. Watching Silva's body get paler and smaller.

"Denim?" Mare whispers. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know." I answer truthfully.

It's Telly that did this. That little deaf girl from 3. This is the trap she was working on. Damn… maybe she stands a chance after all.

She's survived this long. She's gone a few days without Moore. She just killed someone. Maybe not physically herself, but it still counts as her kill. When Capitol citizens go to place their bets, this is going to count for Telly.

Somehow it feels weird to think that Moore was involved in this, however remotely. He was just so nice… it's hard to put him and electrocution together in my mind. It's just not right. It's like… sometimes I imagine myself spinning in a circle, and for some reason I can't make the image stop spinning no matter how hard I try. It's like that. It just doesn't work.

I don't stop spinning. And Moore doesn't electrocute people.

For all I know, Telly actually electrocuted him herself. Maybe she killed that boy from 2, as well.

Those are scary thoughts, because Telly and killing doesn't work in my mind either. She's so small, and so frail, and deaf. The thought that someone like that could kill messes with my mind in a different way. If she can kill you, there's no rules of who's strong and who's weak. If I can kill three Careers, there's no rule of that.

Strange. I'm the smallest one in these Games, but as far as I know I have the most kills of anybody in the Arena.

"We should go," I tell Mare.

Mare nods. "Yeah," she responds, even though her eyes seem just as glued on the scene before us as mine are.

We stand and watch Pine cry for another minute or two before I finally grab Mare's arm and say "We really should go."

She nods and we start walking.

We just about make it to the tree line when Mare steps in a bit of mud. I hear another _snap_ sound and suddenly I get hit with a shock.

I stumble and fall to the ground. I feel out of breath, dizzy, disoriented. Nothing is right and I'm out of breath, and my body feels tingly and I don't understand what's happening and I hear the boom of a cannon and all I can think is _Am I dead?_

Eventually, though, I catch my breath and I can sit up. I look around and assure myself that I'm not dead.

No, I'm not dead.

Mare is.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Oh dear, Mare's dead. Only two chapters left! And review!


	16. Numb

**Chapter 16:**

**Numb**

* * *

"Mare?" I croak, too stunned to say much else. This isn't happening… what _is _happening? I don't even understand what's happening. My body is still too tingly.

At some point I register the fact that she had stepped in a puddle that a wire was running through… and I was holding her hand. I got the less severe shock, which is why I'm still alive.

It takes me a solid minute to register this. Mare's dead because of a wire. Silva's dead because of a wire. You can die because of one misstep.

It's Telly's fault. That damn little deaf girl from 3.

Someone puts a hand on my shoulder and I jump violently. Then I realize that it's Pine.

"Hi." I say, still stunned.

"Hi." he replies. His eyes are red and puffy, his nose is running, and he's got a nasty bruised lip.

"Don't step in the water." I mutter.

"Don't step in the water." he agrees, offering me a hand up. I take it and he helps me get to my feet.

"Are you alright?" I ask him.

He raises his eyebrows. "Are you?"

"Your wife just died." I tell him.

"Your friend just died." he counters.

"We weren't really friends," I reply, looking down at my feet.

"Sure." he says. He takes my hand, which makes me tense up at first, but then I realize he's trying to lead my away from the lake. I let him.

"Are you alright?" he asks. I shrug. "Would you kill me if I took you back to my camp?"

"As long as you don't try to kill me," I answer. "And just so you know; I have more knives and faster reflexes."

"Got it," he says, then he starts walking and I follow him.

I try to zone out as we walk. It doesn't take much effort. I think I was in shock earlier. Mare is dead.

Mare is dead. Just like that. And Silva's dead, too.

We're really down to the end now. There's five of us left, and we all stand a chance. Even Telly. In fact, the person with the least skill is probably Pine.

I wonder who everyone in the Capitol is betting on right now? One of the Careers, the widower, the girl with the electricity, or the girl with the knives?

I hope that they're betting on me. The gamemakers want to give the audience what they want, so if everyone's betting on me there's a good chance I'll make it to the final two.

From there you're pretty much on your own. Well, except for this one year I remember from when I was little, when this one girl went crazy. They didn't want the crazy person winning, so they blew her up in the middle of the fight.

So, note to self: stay sane.

"Are you sad?" I ask Pine.

"I'm angry." he replies "I'll save sad for later."

I'm not sure I could control my emotions like that. I mean, I don't know, I'm not in love. I don't think I've even completely grasped the concept yet. But still… I… never mind, I don't know how to think about this.

"Mare had all of my supplies," I say.

"It's alright, I have supplies." replies Pine. His hand is almost uncomfortably tight, and he's walking too fast for me to walk at a normal pace.

"So what, you want an alliance?" I snap.

"Sure."

"There's only five of us left," I remind him "Three to die before we'd have to turn on each other."

"Think on the bright side, Denim."

I stop walking and jerk his arm. He looked at me and gives me a look that clearly says 'I'm waiting.'

"What's the bright side in this situation?" I ask dully. "At the moment, there's a forty percent chance that one of us will live. Twenty that either of us personally will live. Sooner or later one of us will have to kill the other. And with the rate that Telly's going with her wires, it'll be sooner rather than later."

"The bright side is that we're both alive right now." replies Pine. "You need supplies, and I have them."

He turns and starts walking.

By the time I decide to speak, he's already about twenty yards away. "I don't want to get close to someone else and then lose them!" I shout. He turns back to look at me.

"I've already lost Mare!" I shout "Peach, Perry, and…" I trail off "Moore." I say too quiet for Pine to hear me.

"Then don't come!" shouts Pine, before turning and walking away.

* * *

_I stab Pine until I see the light leave his eyes and I hear the boom of the cannon._

_He's dead. It's just me and-_

_Suddenly I'm thrown to the ground by Ruth and there's a knife and she's stabbing me and all I can think about is how scared I am-_

I wake up with a gasp. I look wildly around and realize that I'm safe. I'm in one of those houses and it looks like the sun is rising.

I roll over with a groan. At this point I'm really not in the mood to care. I have my knives close at hand and I'll hear if anyone comes close. I'll just throw a knife into their chest. Or their neck. Maybe their head. Depends on my mood.

I think right now my mood is a headshot.

I am tired, I am sore, I am hungry, I am thirsty, I am cold, and Mare is dead.

I'm regretting not killing Pine when I had the chance. There's only four people between me and going home and he is one of them.

I'm going to hunt them down when it's day. Pine, Telly, Ruth, and 4. I barely even care about the fact that I don't have anymore supplies. I don't need any. At this point, the gamemakers will be driving us toward each other.

I roll over again, sure that I won't be able to get back to sleep. I tuck my hands behind my head and watch as the sky lightens through the tiny window in the house. Something is off, but I can't figure out exactly what.

When my arms cramp up a bit, I move them out from behind my head and twirl a knife in my hands.

Feeling antsy, I get up, fasten my knife belt, and walk out the door…

Something is still off.

I grip my knife tighter and look around cautiously. It doesn't feel like anybody is watching me, it just feels… weird. Abnormal. And…

I look towards the sunrise. I've figured it out.

The sun rises in the east. That's… south.

I cock my head to the side and stare at the light. What are the gamemakers doing? Is this just some bizarre technical error, or something more?

It's not a fire, I can see that. It's not a storm- well, maybe it is. Some bizarre storm that they've cooked up to drive us together.

Whatever it is, I'm not going towards it.

I head the opposite direction. Low and behold, I'm headed towards the lake.

Of course it all ends there. You have to end it somewhere that we're familiar with. Where we know our way around.

Makes for a good show.

After a few minutes, I hear something other than myself. It's someone else.

I turn just as a flash of red flies by. It's Telly, running by me. Running from…I look the way she came from and see a tree explode in a flair of bright sparks.

I don't know what it is, but I'm running.

I chase after Telly, dodging trees and roots and prickling plants as I run from whatever is blowing stuff up behind me.

I hear another explosion.

It doesn't sound like explosions I've heard on TV. It sounds… it sounds like a mixture of an explosion and when Mare and Silva got electrocuted.

Either Telly wired up the whole forest or this is some sort of electric storm. Probably the latter, though I doubt that the first is beyond her.

We're nearing the lake and the explosions are getting louder and closer together. I'm starting to worry that I might get hit when-

Nothing. Silence. That's it.

We're practically at the lake now, it's just through the trees.

I look up at the sky and watch the strange electric clouds clear up. It's almost dawn. Just light enough for me to see everything around me.

I turn to Telly, who is leaning against a tree and wheezing. I'm out of breath myself, but I'm so full of adrenaline I barely notice.

I grab a good knife for a short distance throw and watch Telly for a few more seconds before I throw.

She yelps and falls to the ground, wheezing and whimpering. Her eyes find mine just as the light leaves them. A few seconds later the cannon goes off.

I feel completely numb. It doesn't even matter to me that I just killed a girl in cold blood and didn't even give her a chance to defend herself. I'm totally beyond caring.

I don't bother retrieving the knife. I walk to the edge of the woods and wait. The Careers will come from the other side of the lake. They'll either be electrocuted or I'll kill them first.

As for Pine… he doesn't walk quietly.

And I wait.

And wait some more.

I can't figure out how long I'm waiting. There's no good way to judge time. Maybe it's the adrenaline wearing off or something.

I stand when I see Ruth and 4 coming through the trees. Even from this distance, I can see them smiling at each other.

They're going to walk all the way around the lake to get to me. There's no way they won't step in one of the puddles and get shocked. They start walking. They both have something held in front of them that look like some sort of shield- perhaps from a sponsor, or maybe just something from the Cornucopia.

I take one knife and throw it at Ruth's leg, but the angle is weird and they're running, so I miss.

They're almost halfway towards me when there's a crack and 4 falls to the ground. Ruth stops the second she hears the cannon. "That bitch set her wires here!" she yells.

"Rather unfortunate!" I yell.

Ruth, scowling at me, sets forward, watching the ground as she walks. I wait until she's within a good distance before I throw another knife.

She curses loudly when she's unable to block it and it hits her in the thigh. I'm hoping that I've hit an artery, but from the fact she's still walking I guess there's no such luck.

I throw another knife and I'm able to get her shoulder, because she goes to block her legs.

But now she's really close and she's unsheathing a sword-

I duck to the side just as she drops her shield and swings at me.

This is it. The final fight.

I trip and fall from my sideways jump, but this works to my advantage as she probably would've gotten a good swipe at me if I hadn't. I take a knife and stab her in the ankle, which causes her legs to give way and she falls to the ground next to me.

I use the same knife to try and stab the hand which holds the sword, but she moves it out of the way before I can and instead swings at me again whilst rolling over to try and get on top of me.

I roll away and end up knocking myself into the uninjured arm she was using for support and she falls on top of me anyway.

She grabs my dominant hand while she tries- unsuccessfully- to stab me with her sword. Swords aren't good weapons for close range _this _close.

Meanwhile, I'm using my left hand to try and get her away. I push on her chest, trying to move her, I try and grab her arm, and then one good idea comes to me. Something so simple that I used about three weeks ago.

I slap my hand hard against the side of Ruth's head.

She curses loudly and falls to the side, giving me time to draw a knife and try to stab her- and I succeed.

I get her in the stomach, and even as she's bleeding to death she tries to do me in.

She reaches for her sword but I stab the knife brutally into her wrist. She yells and does something I'm unprepared for-

She bites me.

I yelp and smack her head before scurrying away from her. I've bitten people before- but I've never_ been_ bitten. And damn, it hurts.

I get to my feet shakily and draw one more knife.

I throw it into her skull.

I don't even wait for the cannon to go off before I turn to hunt down Pine.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

So, next chapter is the last! Who do you think will win? Pine or Denim? (I honestly didn't decide until I got to the last paragraph.)

Review!


	17. Victor

**Author's note:**

Alright, this is the very last chapter. I do hope that everybody has enjoyed reading. (By the way, I'm still confused about how I can have so many readers and so few reviews... this isn't me asking for reviews, I'm genuinely miffed.)

* * *

**Chapter 17:**

**Victor**

* * *

"Hey there," I hear.

I freeze and turn. "Hey" I say to Pine. He's leaning against a tree casually, as if I'm not about to kill him.

"Congratulations," he says, smiling wryly at me.

"Congratulations?" I repeat stupidly.

"Congratulations." he repeats "You're about to win, aren't you?"

"You're just gonna let me kill you?" I ask incredulously. "Aren't you going to put up a fight?"

He shrugs. "Nah."

I open and close my mouth a few times. "No." I repeat. We repeat each other a lot. "No… why?"

"You deserve to go home," he shrugs. "You've won it."

I've won it. By killing people. Lots of people. Even some innocent people. I killed Telly when she wasn't even looking. She didn't expect me to do that.

"I've _won_ it?" I repeat. "I- no. I killed people." my voice is wavering, reaching a strange tone that I've never heard before. "I _murdered_ people. I _murdered_ Telly when she wasn't even looking- I poisoned that boy from- I can't even _remember his district_! I killed all those Careers and Perry killed himself and I didn't protect Peach and _hell_-"

I cut myself off and put my hands against a tree, breathing shaky breaths, trying not to cry. It's not that hard. It's like… I'm all used up. I can't cry.

After I finish my minor breakdown, I look up to see Pine in the same position, except he looks more concerned than he did a few moments ago.

"You deserve to go home," I say quietly. "You've got family… you need to be there for Silva's family. The only people that I care about aren't going to miss me-"

"Don't say that-"

"It's true," I whisper. "My sister's insane and my only friend is Moore's _brother_. He's not going to notice that I'm gone when he's all broken up over Moore." I pause and shake my head "But you- you've got parents and siblings and Silva's parents and her siblings and- I don't know! I just…" I shake my head again and finish quietly "You deserve this more than I do."

I reach into my belt and pull out my last knife. I turn it over a couple of times in my hand, examining it, before I throw it to the ground beneath Pine's feet.

"Kill me." I say simply.

"I'm not gonna kill you, Denim-"

"Shut up," I reply "You're worse than Moore. He wouldn't even let me frown."

"Frowning is different than death." counters Pine.

"And in case you haven't noticed, one of us has to die." I say "And I don't think it should be the one with more to live for."

Pine stares at me for a minute or two. I can practically hear the gears turning in his head. He stares at the knife for another minute before he slowly bends down and picks it up.

He straightens up and stands there, turning the knife over in his hands. "No, Denim." he says firmly "I am not going to kill you."

I let out an exasperated yell. "Why!" I yell.

"I've never killed anyone before," he replies. "I would've killed for Silva, but I'm not killing for myself." He drops the knife for good measure, making sure it lands about halfway between us.

"You're ridiculous!" I yell.

"Why do you want to die!" Pine yells at me.

"I don't want to die, you idiot!" I yell back at him. "Who the hell wants to die!" I yell on "But if only one of us can live-" I pause, considering my next words carefully. "I just… I don't… if I live… I don't think that I could live with myself…"

"Please," mutters Pine "You-"

_"I!" _I yell "Would've killed you without a thought five minutes ago! I didn't even _care_! I was _numb_!"

"Then what changed?" he asks.

I shrug. "You said… 'hey there.'" I reply. "Crazy, murderous little girl about to kill you and you say hello." I shake my head. "I think I just… realized that… I don't even know…"

I crouch down and put my face in my hands. This is insane. I don't want to die! Why am I doing this? I should've killed Pine five, ten minutes ago!

What am I doing?

"Just kill me." I whisper.

I hear Pine stepping towards me and he crouches down as well. "Denim, I refuse to kill you."

"You're an ass." I reply.

He puts an arm around me and holds me for a moment, as though expecting me to cry. I'm not going to, but I feel like I should be.

"I hate this." I whisper into his chest, so quietly that the cameras can't hear.

"Everybody does," he whispers into my hair. "But listen to me." he's talking at a normal volume now. "You're going to kill me, or I'll kill myself. Either way, you're going to live, alright?"

He moves away from me, obviously trying to look me in the eye. I refuse, and instead look at his feet.

"Denim?" he prompts "Look at me."

I look up at him, into his eyes. "What?" I croak.

"Are you going to kill me, or should I kill myself?" he asks simply. I'm stunned by his complete acceptance of this situation.

"I'm not going to kill you." I whisper "And you're not killing yourself! Stop talking like that!"

"Then I'll kill myself," he says, "But I need to ask you a favor."

_"What?"_ I scream, scrambling to my feet.

"On the Victory Tour," he says "When you get to 7, can you tell my family that I love them?"

"Stop it!" I yell.

"You stop it," Pine replies calmly, getting to his feet as well. "You don't even have to do anything, just stand there and wait." He turns around and picks the knife up off the ground.

"I won't let you." I growl.

"How are you going to stop me?" he counters "Kill yourself before I can?"

"Maybe," I mutter.

"This is your last knife." he reminds me, wiggling it almost teasingly just for good measure. "Want to wrestle me for it?"

"I've wrestled off three Careers." I inform him "And won."

"But you haven't yet wrestled with someone trying to kill themselves," replies Pine. "And I doubt you've had a fight without your knife to help you."

"I hate you."

"Then why are you so apposed to me killing myself?"

"If you're so intent upon killing yourself then why don't you stop talking to me and just _do _it!" I yell exasperatedly.

He shrugs. "Don't know. Maybe I want to extend my last few moments of life,"

"Well, I don't think I could live with myself if you give me more than a few moments," I tell him. "I've always said that this game kills twenty-three and a half people."

"Maybe it's already killed my other half." Pine replies simply.

And damn, he's right.

His wife's dead. He was going to get her home. He was going to let himself die so that the person he loved more than anything else in the whole world could live a full life.

But now she's dead and he feels like he has nothing.

Pine has nothing left but to give someone else the chance to live. And he wants to give that to me.

"So this has to do with Silva?" I whisper. "Because you couldn't save her you want to save me… is that it?"

He watches me for a few moments before he nods.

I watch him for a few moments before I throw up my hands in exasperation and yell "That is so stupid!"

Pine closes his eyes and shakes his head.

I glance at the knife in his hand. And his eyes are closed. He won't see it coming…

I take a deep breath. _I can do this._

Before I can over think, I reach out to grab the knife.

* * *

"So, those last few moments in the Arena were pretty intense," says Caesar.

I can't believe that that's his opening question. It's not even a question! How am I supposed to respond?

'Oh, yeah, I tried to kill myself but the person who deserved to live got there first,'

That won't work. That's…

No. I honestly did try to kill myself… but I just couldn't get the knife back…

"Yeah," I settle on "Pretty… intense."

Repeating seemed to work well back in the Arena.

"How did you feel when you realized that you were the winner?" he asks.

I don't like that question either.

The honest answer is 'I felt like I wanted to take the knife out of a dead person's chest and stab myself with it- but you tranquilized me before I could.'

No, I need to act like a victor.

"I realized that the whole suicide thing was… just the Games getting to me." I say slowly "You know, you see tributes going mad all the time. I think that was what happened. When I realized that I had won- I was _so_ happy."

Caesar nods. "Now, little Telly with her electricity- that was pretty crazy. You never even found out exactly what happened there, did you?"

I shake my head.

Caesar turns to the audience. "Think I should tell!" he yells. The audience cheers in reply. He turns back to me.

"Well, you see- on the first night, Moore snuck into the Cornucopia and stole wires and various electric… things."

Leave it to the Capitol citizens to not know exactly what they stole.

"After Moore and Ender were killed by tracker jackers in a fight- Telly started setting the traps outside of their camp. Including the lake." he pauses here and glances at the audience. "So… how did you feel, at the lake, when you saw Silva and Mare electrocuted?"

Dead. Hopeless. Shocked…

Ha. Shocked.

"Shocked." I deadpan. This gets a small laugh out of the audience. Caesar laughs as well, and nods to urge me on.

"It was…" I begin slowly "It was like… everything just stopped. I could barely comprehend what was happening. It was like… alarm bells were going off in my head but I couldn't figure out what they meant. And then the cannons went off… it was just… it's hard to put into words exactly what I was feeling."

Caesar nods. "So what was it like when you were wrestling over that knife?"

"It was weird." I reply. "Fighting over who's going to kill _themselves_ is definitely…" I pause "Unusual."

"And when you lost the knife?" asks Caesar.

This is another one of those weird questions. Because I'm not sure exactly how to answer here. Because it was so surreal and so loud and so quiet and so… hopeless. I don't really even know how to respond.

But I'll give it a shot.

"I barely even realized I had lost it until I heard the sound of Pine's ribs cracking."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Duh duh duh! The end! Did I trick anyone? I hope so, that was kind of my intention. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading. I'll be writing a sequel about Denim's life as a victor, because the life of a typical victor is never really explored much in the books.

Thank you for reading, and please review!


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